Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2025
- Thread starter Jefferson
- Start date
Horrible news was announced today from the zoo. Babirusa Bucky sustrained fatal injuries after accidentally accessing greater one horned rhino Vishnu's space. Despite swift actions by staff Bucky could not be saved. The zoo said the cause is human error. I feel for the keeper or keepers responsible for the tragedy. They must be devastated. I know from having been on a behind the scenes with the rhinos that the babirusas really hold a soft spot in their keepers hearts. They adored Bucky for his spunky personality. My thoughts go out to all the keepers but especially the one or ones responsible. Accidents happen. We are all human.
Babirusa Bucky has passed away saw it on Facebook. It sounds like somehow due human error he got into an area with Vishnu, the Indian Rhinoceros, and there was an interaction that resulted in Bucky, the Babirusa, either passing or having to be euthanized. Keepers have to be feeling awful can't imagine hope they're receiving support. The post also said Bucky was one of the oldest Babirusa's in North America.
Darn sad ... and what a loss.... For a keeper it is the worst thing that can happen! Alas, even in the best managed zoos these things happen from time to time....
Was Bucky actually the last babirusa around or did he still have an elderly mate?
We still have his mate Olive. Shes a year or two younger than him but has a bum leg which is what prevented any further breeding after their daughter Muna was born, despite Olive being the most genetically valuable female in North America.
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
I second the question asked earlier about where the Radiated tortoises went.
Also... when did this happen? I've been out of the loop too long it seems
Absolutely shattered about Bucky. I can only imagine how the keepers there are feeling and it must be worse than me and it feels pretty bad. Bucky's personality was actually one of a kind. One of the first animals at the zoo when I started going frequently that I personally really made a connection with. He was just so fun and such a good boy, the way he'd recognize you and give you attention back, it really made me passionate and happy to and excited to go as often as I can. RIP Buckster you will be missed <3
Kalvin
Well-Known Member
I second the question asked earlier about where the Radiated tortoises went.
Also... when did this happen? I've been out of the loop too long it seems
The Radiated Tortoises haven't gone anywhere. They were previously kept in the small exhibit on the other side of the boardwalk from the Pygmy Hippos, next to the spoonbill/ibis exhibit. Since the pandemic (4-5 years now), they have been in the glassed in enclosure at the top of the stairs, which previously housed a Nile Monitor.
Jefferson
Well-Known Member
I second the question asked earlier about where the Radiated tortoises went.
Also... when did this happen? I've been out of the loop too long it seems
I think November or December?
Van Beal
Well-Known Member
Huh... are the Demoiselles on or off display?
Are the Radiated Tourists being displayed with the Red Footed Tortoise or is it somewhere else in the Rainforest Pavilion?
Jefferson
Well-Known Member
I believe the radiated tortoises are in the glass exhibit up the stairs behind the pygmy hippos as @Kalvin stated.
I think the red-footed tortoise is in behind the nile soft-shell and by the spoonbills and ibis. I believe the red-footed tortoise is alone. I won't be by the zoo until mid march likely, but will try and confirm then.
I think the red-footed tortoise is in behind the nile soft-shell and by the spoonbills and ibis. I believe the red-footed tortoise is alone. I won't be by the zoo until mid march likely, but will try and confirm then.
milkandcookies
Member
I visited last week and can confirm the cranes are there. They are in the outdoor netted area where the peacocks usually are (I didn't see the peacocks so presumably they were moved inside). The doors in the aviary that lead to that area are closed so you can only see them outside the front of the pavilion. They didn't seem too bothered by the snow so I guess they're more cold tolerant.
Zoo adventures
Well-Known Member
A southern ground hornbill was born late December of last year to Catelyn and Biko. It is their 6th successful offspring. The chick is now 62 days old. He or she is still at the Wildlife care center with his or her mom
The Toronto Zoo
The Toronto Zoo
That is wrong. I know you got that info from the zoo's Facebook so not your fault but its still wrong. I hate when they zoo refuses to do the math correctly. The southern ground hornbills have 10 chicks who fledged.
Sansa Hatched Jan 2012
Araya Hatched Nov 2012
Oleana Hatched Feb 2013
Tyrion Hatched Nov 2015
Bran Hatched Jan 2017
Drogo Hatched Dec 2019
Gilly Hatched Dec 2021
2022 male chick
2023 chick
2024 chick (current one)
They probably mean that they have 6 chicks residing at the zoo. Sansa, Araya and Oleana have since moved first to Hattiesburg and then on to homes with their mates at Safari West, Houston, and well Oleana didnt move. Drogo also has died. That would leave 6 of their 10 offspring at the zoo.
The lost their 2016 chick, Brans clutch mate, a double clutch in 2018, and a double clutch in 2020, meaning they have produced 16 chicks since arriving at the zoo. They are a highly successful pair.
Blitz
Active Member
Currently at the zoo. Have noted a few things I’ll post about later, but wanted to pop on to say that the Primate wing of the Americas Pavilion is closed today. Signs are up about it and I was talking to a volunteer stationed at the entrance to that loop…Cora the White-Faced Saki is expecting, and is due any day now! She was due to have an ultrasound any time now (today) to see if she’s in labour yet. She was in with the male who’s the father. She was sitting on a branch eating and they had 2 volunteers across from her spot with iPads observing and taking notes about what she was doing.
So that’s exciting! Have we had a White-Faced Saki birth at the zoo before?
So that’s exciting! Have we had a White-Faced Saki birth at the zoo before?
No the zoo has never welcomed a saki infant. This will be the first since the zoo started holding sakis in 1987. The baby might not be as exciting to the average zoo goer as an orang or gorilla infant but this one is very special. Hope all goes well for Cora, Madeira and their little bundle of joy.
Blitz
Active Member
They’re on display. You can see them outside the entrance to the Australasia pavilion. They have a new sign too. I’ve attached pictures I took of it today.
Other things I took note on regarding comings and goings (in no particular order):
- The old Komodo spot in Australasia is now a new bird (Red-Legged Seriema) named Nadine (per the sign).
- The two Red Pandas were out together in the area that’s not beside the mini boardwalk. They were both super active. Kalden was walking around and kept squatting and rubbing his bum against the ground (marking his territory?) and Poppy kept following him around. At one point she pounced on him from behind and he kinda just lay there for a minute like “what just happened?”. Their antics were hilarious and that might be the most active Red Pandas have been in all my visits!
- Axolotl were off exhibit.
- There’s 2 new Lau Banded Iguanas named Honeydew and Avocado in the exhibit next to the Naked Mole Rats (African Rainforest Pavillion). One more to the left from the Naked Mole rats the sign says it’s a Veiled Chameleon but the glass had a black mesh sticker thing on it so you couldn’t really see through the glass other than to see the plants in there.
- Not sure which Orangutan was on exhibit as they’ve removed the whiteboard that used to say who it was.
- There was a “something new is coming” sign in the glasses exhibit to the left of the White Handed Gibbon viewing spot with the turtles. Sign above says Green Crested Basilisk, but I don’t remember if that’s an old sign or not.
- Mingma the Clouded Leopard was on exhibit in the Malayan Woods (and you could actually see him!). Volunteer also had an iPad and was noting every time he did something (not sure what that’s about, I’ve not seen volunteers with iPads doing that in previous visits). Volunteer said you can tell Mingma from Parvati because he’s slightly bigger and has a kink in the end of his tail (almost like he got it caught in a door…to describe what it looks like, I don’t actually think that happened).
- Asked and that volunteer thinks it’s unlikely that that pavillion will get butterflies again
- Sign outside the One-Horned Rhino house labeling it as such is gone. It’s now a banner saying Guardians of the Wild. Signage inside for the rhinos is the same. Vishnu was out inside but slowly walked into the back not long after I went in. His skin looked pretty good (I have pictures if anyone wants to see). His back end did look a bit stiff when he was walking away though?
- There’s a big new Babirusa sign on the outdoor pen that used to be rhinos. Sign wasn’t there when I was last there in July. No signs about Bucky’s passing. Didn’t see Olive out either.
I go to the zoo on March Break every year so I know what to expect that week. Today I noticed there seemed to be very few zookeepers and/or volunteers out and about…less than previous March Break visits. Even where the popular animals are, or in the greenhouse for the orchid festival. Struck me as odd, and was a bit disappointing as I was hoping to be able to ask someone how Vishnu’s skin actually was doing, ask about his stiffness, and ask how Olive is doing as the sole Babirusa. Only one giraffe was on exhibit and I think it was female but there was no one around to ask. I will say I had great conversations with the guy guarding Cora’s area about when she was due, with the guy by Mingma, and I spent at least 10 minutes chatting with the lovely volunteer by the Gorilla girls inside, who you could tell was super passionate about Gorillas and zoos in general.
From the Gorilla volunteer, whose name I’m blanking on unfortunately!), I learned…
- Zoos typically don’t like to move silverbacks to new zoos/troops until they turn 20.
- When/if Sadiki goes, it’s likely Nassir will go with him as he can’t be left alone as the lone male at TZ.
- Likely our new silverback will come from Quebec. I asked if it would be from Granby, she said no, the other one but couldn’t remember the zoo’s name. But idk if another QC zoo has gorillas so she might have gotten that backwards.
- Once silverback comes, she didn’t think any of the 4 girls will be moved on.
- Second oldest female (Nneka? Johari? I should have taken a picture of the sign lmao) has the second best dna of all female gorillas in North America so she thought it would be likely that that breeding would be the priority with the new man.
- Female gorillas they start thinking about breeding after they turn 12.
- Josephine didn’t like Charles when they were both alive. They had kids together but she wasn’t a huge fan of him. If they were in the wild, she thought Josephine would have chosen to leave the troop.
She also spoke very highly of Dolf DeJong, said what you see of him is 100% who he is. Super passionate about his job and zoos. Talks to everyone (even the “little guy” employee/volunteer!). That he regularly goes around picking up garbage (so did I on this trip, sadly…). Big on thinking outside the box. Said that if the previous CEO had still been in charge when the pandemic happened the zoo wouldn’t have survived. Basically said the previous guy (who’s also the one with the elephant drama and losing us the AZA accreditation) sucked.
(apologies for any formatting or spelling errors. I brought my laptop but forgot its charging cord on this trip so this entire long post was done on my phone, which is not friendly for that!)
Also question about AZA and the endangered species…for endangered species of the “big name” animals, do zoos typically only want send any outgoing to other AZA and not unaccredited? Mainly wondering about them sending Nandu to Safari Niagara. Or on the flip side, would the zoo considering bringing in those types of animals from non-accredited? Or does it depend on if there are breeding plans or something?
