Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Discussion thread 2024

I have to say I really enjoyed the gorilla encounter! Me and my mother were the only ones, so we got pretty lucky. It started with us and our guide walking past the brothers in the main indoor habitat talking about the zoo and gorilla conservation. Then we went behind the scenes and met with a keeper behind the outdoor habitat. We stood behind a secondary short fence while the keeper went up to the enclosure fence. Charles was with us most of the time, getting all the pears and some tea. We got to hear all about the family dynamics and everyone's distinct personalities. We got VERY lucky and got one on one time with each of the family.

We ended up talking about Kembali's great escape and how that went. Super interesting to hear it from the keeper's side. We also ended up talking about Teeka and shes settling super well. We ended off the tour with a little chat about the cell phone recycling they do and how it helps gorillas in the wild. Very much looking forward to doing another tour whenever I get to the zoo next!
 
Rev705 said:
Jita and Pemba were breeding quite a lot today. Keepers said they leave them out all night together as well. Things seem to be going quite well. Access to the polar bears was also blocked off today. They’re trying to test out if Juno and Hudson can be together to give them more options for display and not have Juno all by herself. They were doing construction at the front all day today and working hard on that area. There’s also now a sign outside of the red panda exhibit stating that Sakura is here and getting used to her surroundings and should be out on display shortly!
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Sadly she died along with the baby boy cub.
 
Important question, since my annual trip is set to happen soon and I have to finalize my plans, is the Zoomobile currently running? The map on the zoo's site says something about the Zoomobile not being available as of September 16 but the site itself seems to make no mention of this.
 
AJ the TZ Guy said:
Important question, since my annual trip is set to happen soon and I have to finalize my plans, is the Zoomobile currently running? The map on the zoo's site says something about the Zoomobile not being available as of September 16 but the site itself seems to make no mention of this.
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They sell tickets online up to October 13 and not after that, with a weather permitting clause always in effect.
 
Riverdale Zoo said:
They sell tickets online up to October 13 and not after that, with a weather permitting clause always in effect.
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Thank you :3 I'm considering maybe catching a ride at the Tundra Trek station at some point as a little quick way back to the main plaza near the end of the trip or an easy way around to the Savannah, depending on the route I take. I just hope the waits aren't too long and I'm allowed to bring my little handcart aboard. <:3
 
Making my visit tomorrow. Any notable absences/new animals that would be different from my trip in March?
 
Van Beal said:
Making my visit tomorrow. Any notable absences/new animals that would be different from my trip in March?
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The new gibbon family in the IndoMalaya pavilion.
The two new Asian wild horse foals in the Eurasia zoomobile drive though (mind you, they're getting pretty big now).
 
AJ the TZ Guy said:
I know there's armadillos and southern tamanduas in the Kids Zoo if that interests you :3
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Saw the dillos back in March, but of course wouldn't mind seeing them again. Those tamanduas are of interest though. How far into the Kids' Zoo would I have to go?
Additionally, what's the situation with the Indian Rhino and babirusa?
 
Van Beal said:
Saw the dillos back in March, but of course wouldn't mind seeing them again. Those tamanduas are of interest though. How far into the Kids' Zoo would I have to go?
Additionally, what's the situation with the Indian Rhino and babirusa?
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The tamanduas are Outreach animals without permanent exhibit space. Need to get lucky to see them out with their keepers. Not entirely sure where and when they pop up though.

The Indian Rhino Vishnu has access to the indoor exhibit and an off exhibit backyard. I visited every few weeks over the summer and only managed to see him once; he’s usually in the back. The two Babirusa have access to the outdoor exhibits, Olive in the old Tapir yard and Bucky in the rhino yard.
 
nya~ said:
The tamanduas are Outreach animals without permanent exhibit space. Need to get lucky to see them out with their keepers. Not entirely sure where and when they pop up though.

The Indian Rhino Vishnu has access to the indoor exhibit and an off exhibit backyard. I visited every few weeks over the summer and only managed to see him once; he’s usually in the back. The two Babirusa have access to the outdoor exhibits, Olive in the old Tapir yard and Bucky in the rhino yard.
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Any breeding plans for the babirusa?

I really would have hoped they would ship the old rhino bull Vishnu out. He is yet genetically valuable to the program and certainly outside the North Americas...
 
nya~ said:
The tamanduas are Outreach animals without permanent exhibit space. Need to get lucky to see them out with their keepers. Not entirely sure where and when they pop up though.

The Indian Rhino Vishnu has access to the indoor exhibit and an off exhibit backyard. I visited every few weeks over the summer and only managed to see him once; he’s usually in the back. The two Babirusa have access to the outdoor exhibits, Olive in the old Tapir yard and Bucky in the rhino yard.
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Funny thing is I only really remember the second part of the rhino complex as a babirusa enclosure :oops: vaguely remember the tapir being there for a bit, and remember thinking I must’ve come on the one day they gave it time out on exhibit :p
 
My trip today went very well all told. Couple things I made note of to mention here.
  1. I understand giving Bucky outdoor space, but the rhino yard is massive for such a comparitively small animal. Of the three times I visited the area, only once did I spot him, and it was from a distance. I saw Vishnu just as many times (albeit, I only saw him from the Zoomobile)
  2. Armadillos were a no-show in the kid's zoo, much to my disappointment. Roughly five exhibits combined showed guinea pigs and domestic rabbits, but not one for the armadillos?
  3. The gibbon family wasn't out when I first went to the Indo-Malaya pavilion (roughly 10am), but I went back at the end of my trip (roughly 2pm) and they were out and about, very energetic, especially the juvenile.
  4. New inhabitants in the Australasia aviaries were all seen, a nice change to the emptiness that once shrouded the former tree-kangaroo exhibit. If only people could keep their kids from mocking the poor cockatoos, but that's just me... Galah was incredibly close to the mesh (perfect photo op), while the rosella kept its distance and may have gotten bullied a bit by one of the larger Pied Imperial Pigeons.
  5. Canadian Domain was (much to my surprise and delight) quite worth the trek down the hill. Cougars had a bit of an altercation, but were otherwise quite indifferent to one another, the bison were spooked into a mini-stampede by a not-so-mini flock of geese taking to the skies (and nearly defecating on me, the buggers).
Additionally, the Turkey Vulture was absent from his aviary in the Tundra, and the ostriches were visible in both their spaces (the kudus, on the other hand, were not). The Tank Puppy (I know, he probably has a name, I just don't know it yet) was also quite a treat, being much more active than his parents.
 
Did Ramai the orangutan get surgery recently? She's been wearing nail polish after being off exhibit for two weeks which could possibly suggest that she did.
 
When do we expect TZ to start breeding ramai and budi together to get another orangutan baby cause I was told that they were paired but budi wasn't interested.
 
orangutanlover said:
Did Ramai the orangutan get surgery recently? She's been wearing nail polish after being off exhibit for two weeks which could possibly suggest that she did.
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I don't know of anything in the last 2 weeks, but she did go in for a teeth/reproductive health check back in early July (it was streamed on Zoolife). She had 6 teeth removed plus a polyp (I assume from her uterus). Last I heard she's been recovering well and spending most of her time with Jingga.
 
TZelephantlover44 said:
When do we expect TZ to start breeding ramai and budi together to get another orangutan baby cause I was told that they were paired but budi wasn't interested.
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They've been paired for a few years now and Ramai's had reproductive issues preventing her from getting pregnant. They still breed fairly often though and Budi does see, interested in her. I just saw them breeding this past week while they were on exhibit actually. So fingers crossed!
 
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