Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2023
- Thread starter cypher
- Start date
Visited the zoo yesterday and got some more photos of the new Australasia mural + layout. Excited for the finished product as it feels quite empty right now, lol.
I didn't see Bucky in the pavilion, so maybe he's in the outdoor yard? Unless I missed something.
Red River Hogs, capybara, both chameleon species, as well as (obviously) a large number of birds were off display.
Orang exhibit is looking amazing, as well as the core woods path is such a nice little addition. Also new to me was the Macaw setup in the Americas pavilion - looks great.
Looking forward to going again in July. Really loving all these quality of life updates but the zoo does feel a little empty in the midst of these renovations. Tundra Trek is depressing - lol. One snow goose in a large exhibit seems so silly.
I didn't see Bucky in the pavilion, so maybe he's in the outdoor yard? Unless I missed something.
Red River Hogs, capybara, both chameleon species, as well as (obviously) a large number of birds were off display.
Orang exhibit is looking amazing, as well as the core woods path is such a nice little addition. Also new to me was the Macaw setup in the Americas pavilion - looks great.
Looking forward to going again in July. Really loving all these quality of life updates but the zoo does feel a little empty in the midst of these renovations. Tundra Trek is depressing - lol. One snow goose in a large exhibit seems so silly.
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Van Beal
Well-Known Member
So for the mural, where in the Australasian Pavilion is it?
Also, off the top of my head cannot for the life of me remember where those last three images would have been taken… care to remind me of where those three enclosures are?
So, it's right after the area where the tree kangaroo was. The reason why it looks unfamiliar is because they completely changed the layout. It's essentially reversed now. And the outdoor area is the newly renovated aviary.
Kalvin
Well-Known Member
I don't think they have kept Bucky in the pavilion since Hoot arrived, and even before this I believe he mostly only stayed in there for the winter, so he is likely rotating in the outdoor yard with Olive. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on any of that.
I meant the Australia pavilion.
Also, I know the bats had a baby but I don't know where you see them lol
The plan for babirusa, Bucky, was always to take him back to the Indian rhino house for the summer. To ensure everyone has as much space in the winter they have been moving him to Indo for the winters. This year they just happened to have a new gibbon in Hoot and an empty tree kangaroo exhibit so they changed it up and sent him to Australasia. No reason why they wouldnt put him back in the rhino house so he can be outside in the summer as usual.
The straw colour fruit bat babies of which we have 3 who are now either full size or nearly so, are in the African rainforest pavilion in the aviary located behind the ibis and Nile soft shelled turtle exhibits. It is not easy to see any of the bats or birds in there unless you are keeping your eyes peeled. The baby bats are either just being moved to this enclosure or still in an off exhibit maternity holding where the hand reared pup, Jesse, is getting to know the females and other pups.
The straw colour fruit bat babies of which we have 3 who are now either full size or nearly so, are in the African rainforest pavilion in the aviary located behind the ibis and Nile soft shelled turtle exhibits. It is not easy to see any of the bats or birds in there unless you are keeping your eyes peeled. The baby bats are either just being moved to this enclosure or still in an off exhibit maternity holding where the hand reared pup, Jesse, is getting to know the females and other pups.
Lol why do they make it so challenging to see them?
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Okay thanks. Followup question: are the birds in the walkthroughs back on exhibit or are they still off-display cuz of the avian flu.
So as of right now... no permanent resident in the old tree-kangaroo habitat?
@Cowdoy1010, the babirusa were never meant to be in the rhino house. The original plan when they first picked up Bucky and Olive was that they would live with the gibbons full time. Gibbon, Lenny, hated them and would smack them. That forced the zoo to unexpectedly need a new place to put them and the rhino barn became the only answer other than shipping them back out and admitting failure. At that point we still had a Malayan tapir in there too which is why Tanuck had to go. No real room once the rhinos and babirusa were breeding. During the winter they used to move babirusas Olive and Muna off exhibit to various spare holdings throughout the zoo. Given Olive's leg I think the zoo decided it was just safer to move Bucky who is in good health instead. It frees up space for everyone to have one less animal in the barn. Next winter may be different. Indian rhino, Kiran, is supposed to move to Miami to begin breeding so they will be down to just one rhino and the two babirusa in there. I doubt anyone will need to be shifted to another holding. Well supposing Kiran leaves before winter arrives.
@Van Beal, I dont think there is a resident for the tree kangaroo exhibit right now. Pre covid the plan for the exhibit was most likely koalas arriving from Australia according to the Animal Life Plan. Australia had a surplus of koalas who couldnt be released back to the wild after the 2019 wildfire season. Remember the good old days when that seemed like the worst thing that could happen then 2020 arrived? In the last 3 years they have had to figure it out so the Aussies probably are less motivated to export koalas. We might be able to wrangle a group of surplus males from the US but I would think if they were able to do that they would have tried to get them for this spring since the exhibit is empty. Not really sure what they will do with it now. During the winter they may use it for extra roo or wallaby holding but I'm not sure there is a firm plan.
@Van Beal, I dont think there is a resident for the tree kangaroo exhibit right now. Pre covid the plan for the exhibit was most likely koalas arriving from Australia according to the Animal Life Plan. Australia had a surplus of koalas who couldnt be released back to the wild after the 2019 wildfire season. Remember the good old days when that seemed like the worst thing that could happen then 2020 arrived? In the last 3 years they have had to figure it out so the Aussies probably are less motivated to export koalas. We might be able to wrangle a group of surplus males from the US but I would think if they were able to do that they would have tried to get them for this spring since the exhibit is empty. Not really sure what they will do with it now. During the winter they may use it for extra roo or wallaby holding but I'm not sure there is a firm plan.
Sorry, I more so meant why do they make it challenging to see the bats?
@Cowdoy1010, sorry. I misunderstood. Honestly Im surprised we are even breeding the fruit bats again. There has been a long pause in breeding. They got rid of the Burrows area of the pavilion and completely phased out the Egyptian fruit bats (of which we were one of the top breeding facilities in North America). I assumed they were just going to phase out the straw coloured fruit bats as well. In that case the kinda hidden aviary would make sense. Just like the weird placement of the naked mole rats in the chameleon nursery. There arent many options in the pavilion for them. They could put them in the aviary by the pygmy hippos or maybe in the radiated turtle exhibit but both of those are very small. I dont think the otter aviary or lemur exhibits would be good ideas because they could perch so high up people wouldnt see them anyway and it would make it very hard for keepers to interact with them. Only reasonable option I could see to put them on display where you can see them is to take out the conservation station beside and behind the Lake Malawi tank. A nice exhibit could be tucked in there and would likely have the space needed so they can fly but that requires a big investment. The hidden aviary was the cheapest, easiest option.
It seems like a waste - such an interesting animal and you really aren't able to see them. Hoping they find a solution, especially when they are promoting the babies on their socials.
Also, does anyone know where the chameleons have gone?
@Cowdoy1010 , I believe we have at least 1 Veiled Chameleon on exhibit. I think it's a Veiled but it's in the Meller's Chameleon exhibit. I could be wrong. I know there is a Chameleon in that exhibit. I usually walk by without taking to long looking in there.
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Where are the bats currently kept? Is it still in the Caves of Africa?