Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo New Animals, Departures and Deaths 2012

I was at the zoo today. The wombats are indeed on exhibit and are digging a serious amount of holes.

There is also a new speciesof fish, Red Line Barbs, in the old Malaysian Bonytongue tank. The Bonytongue is where the Mekong Barbs were now.
 
Sweet, if this article really means that the actual animal experts get to decide where our girls go then lets end the insanity with PAWS now. Good facility, bad facility I could careless its just too ugly now for that to be the right home for them. Lets find them the prefect new home asap wherever that might be. City council should have kept their big fat noses out of things and the girls would already have been moved to their new home and not have to deal with another cold winter. Maybe we can get lucky and revive the plan to send them to Disney's Animal Kingdom as a waiting stop until the girls can go to the new Elephant Conservation Center in Florida where they can truely enjoy their retirement years... Nothing could be more fitting for Canadian elephants thant to mimic their human fans and retire to sunny Florida.
 
Ok so apparently I owe the zoo an apology for thinking they were wasting yet another opportunity to get good press with the arrival of the wombats, Millie and Arthur. Good for them. About time they bragged a little about the good work they do. I'm also happy to hear Hamlet will get to spend time with the new kids. Must have been lonely for him to be all alone for so long. Hopefully they will become good pals (maybe even when Millie is older a chance to breed if he is not already related to the other wombats in North America). Just too bad we will have to wait a least another year for them to reach maturity and after that if we were really lucky another 10 months to see a joey... probably longer though. Oh well we can enjoy these active youngersters and Hamlet until that wonderful day. We should be thrilled that our zoo is respected enough by the Aussies that they are willing to entrust Toronto with such cute creatures and the future of wombats in north america.
 
The zoos facebook page has finally announced the birth of the zebra foal. They have posted some pictures of her for those of you who havent seen her in person yet.

For those of you who would like to show your elephant debate knowledge the facebook page has a nasty debate going on about it after some stupid show the CBC put on about the elephants which was apparently completely one sided and very anti Toronto Zoo and AZA. Lots of uneducated people seem to have been swayed by it and are bashing the zoo. Those of you far more educated on the topic then myself should join that discussion and fight back on behalf of the zoo. Its sad what irresponsible journalism can do to the reputation of a fine instutution which is doing everything it can in the best interest of its beloved elephants. Lots of people are saying they wont return to the zoo until the girls are at PAWS. Well I say I wont watch a darn thing on the CBC until they learn to educate themselves on a topic a little before reporting on it. Not saying they have to be all fuzzy about the zoo but seriously arent journalist supposed to be unbiased. Bet PAWS, Bob Barker, Zoocheck or some stupid animal activist group paid them off. Its not like bashing the zoo achieves anything. The zoo agreed to close the elephant program, they had a home all lined up, city council stuck their big fat noses in where it didnt belong, PAWS isnt being all that helpful and has TB (making it far from the best option). I say give the zoo a little time now that city council has backed off to see if they can revive their previous deal with Disney's Animal Kingdom, or find them another home, even at the sanctuary in Tennnesse if thats the best option Im not against the sanctuary idea if that will be a good home for the girls.
 
TZFan said:
The zoos facebook page has finally announced the birth of the zebra foal. They have posted some pictures of her for those of you who havent seen her in person yet.
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The female foal has been named Shakira and the Zoo confirmed that her parents are Shani and Shaka. On the facebook page, a staff member (though they didn't identify themselves as an employee) posted that there are currently 4 zebras at the zoo, which means that Shaka has indeed left the zoo.


Also a positive article from the Toronto Star this week about the African penguins. Just 2 weeks into breeding season, 4 of the 5 females have laid eggs.
Former ?gay penguins? Buddy and Pedro produce eggs with their female mates - thestar.com
 
Thats awesome news. Lets hope there is a bunch of little penguins running around in the next few months.
 
adams7 said:
The female foal has been named Shakira and the Zoo confirmed that her parents are Shani and Shaka. On the facebook page, a staff member (though they didn't identify themselves as an employee) posted that there are currently 4 zebras at the zoo, which means that Shaka has indeed left the zoo.
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Does the 4 include Shakira? Also where did the zoo send Shaka? I thought they would keep him since they used him for breeding.
This made me think of something. The zoo is starting to lose a lot of their breeding males. First polar bear, then giraffe, and now zebra. Unless the zoo has another male zebra that I don't know about.
One more thing: has the zoo announced how Stripes passed away yet? He was one of my favorite animals at the zoo.
 
I could be wrong but I believe we have a new breeding male zebra. He's been around a little while. His name is Jake. I think they kept Shaka around for one last breeding before switching up. He has had a number of foals over the years so Jake's been brought in as his replacement. I have no idea how old he is or if hes bred before. But like I said I dont know things might have changed.

I think since they let Inukshuk go they must believe one or both of the girls is pregnant and that they need his space. Otherwise it wouldnt have made sense to let him go. Without a pregancy it would have made more sense to get rid of Hudson because while we love him he cant very well breed on day with his own mother and aunt. I'd guess they are expecting cubs and therefore shouldnt need Inukshuk for 2-3 years even if the cubs are hand reared again. He'll probably be returned when any new cubs or just Hudson have been shipped out to new homes. But then again depending on the breeding plan and population of AZA polar bears and the number of cubs that arrive this year, Inukshuk and the girls might be well enough represented that they wont be able to breed them again, at least no to each other. With two sons already and whatever will come Inukshuk might already be at that point. I dont know though if the girls are expecting. Maybe they just needed an adult holding for Hudson but if thats the case it just doesnt make sense to me to keep Hudson over his father.

I think the saddest breeding male loss to me will one day be the death of Charles. I love that gorilla and have since my first trip to the zoo. I hope he can go another 10 years but reality is Charles is no spring chicken.

We just have to be happy that we got to enjoy each animal for whatever time we do get to enjoy them for.

A quick question though. In the article adams7 posted about the penguins. It says they have 11 penguins. 5 pairs and a single male (based on the names Puff was the female that died). So that makes me ask what about Eldon, Chupa and Matata? Have out little boys already been shipped out to new homes? If so where?
 
arcticwolf said:
Does the 4 include Shakira? Also where did the zoo send Shaka? I thought they would keep him since they used him for breeding.
This made me think of something. The zoo is starting to lose a lot of their breeding males. First polar bear, then giraffe, and now zebra. Unless the zoo has another male zebra that I don't know about.
One more thing: has the zoo announced how Stripes passed away yet? He was one of my favorite animals at the zoo.
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The 4 includes the baby- Shani, Shakira, Tori and Jake. Shani and Shaka produced 4 female foals together, which is why the zoo has brought in a new male. Jake has been at the Zoo for at least the last 2 summers and can breed with both Shani and Tori (and Shakira when old enough).

While losing Stripes was sad (still no announcement from the zoo), I wouldn't really have considered the giraffe group as breeding. Ginetta is one of the oldest giraffes in captivity at 29 years and was likely too old to get pregnant. Twiga is also on the older side and while there was the possibility of her getting pregnant, nothing happened over the last few years while she and Stripes were on exhibit together.
 
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TZFan said:
I think since they let Inukshuk go they must believe one or both of the girls is pregnant and that they need his space.


A quick question though. In the article adams7 posted about the penguins. It says they have 11 penguins. 5 pairs and a single male (based on the names Puff was the female that died). So that makes me ask what about Eldon, Chupa and Matata? Have out little boys already been shipped out to new homes? If so where?
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Only Hudson and 1 female polar bear have been on exhibit the last few times I have visited... perhaps cubs are on the way.

The 3 penguin chicks from this year are still around and are with the rest of the group. The exhibit can hold more penguins, so I'm not sure if the zoo will try to obtain mates for these males or if they will be moved elsewhere in the future. From the Keeper Talks, Ngozi and Puff (parents to Eldon) were recommended to breed last year by the Species Survival Plan, so I would guess that Ngozi will be matched with a new female at some point.
 
adams7 said:
The 4 includes the baby- Shani, Shakira, Tori and Jake. Shani and Shaka produced 4 female foals together, which is why the zoo has brought in a new male. Jake has been at the Zoo for at least the last 2 summers and can breed with both Shani and Tori (and Shakira when old enough).

While losing Stripes was sad (still announcement from the zoo), I wouldn't really have considered the giraffe group as breeding. Ginetta is one of the oldest giraffes in captivity at 29 years and was likely too old to get pregnant. Twiga is also on the older side and while there was the possibility of her getting pregnant, nothing happened over the last few years while she and Stripes were on exhibit together.
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Thanks!!! I'm glad to hear that the zoo got a new male zebra. I thought that Stripes and Twiga were a breeding pair but I guess I was wrong. I hope the zoo brings in more giraffes since both giraffes are getting old.

I hope that another polar bear is born. Hudson is already extremely popular so another baby would be amazing.
 
Im going to add what I know to this.
- Stripes and Twigga bred right up until his death.
- I thought Tori has already left the zoo?
- The baby penguins are still at the zoo.
- It has been rumoured that both female polar bears are pregnant and are expecting hence the move of Inukshuk. That could be up to 6 cubs, so the move was necessary.
 
Quartz92 said:
Im going to add what I know to this.
- Stripes and Twigga bred right up until his death.
- I thought Tori has already left the zoo?
- The baby penguins are still at the zoo.
- It has been rumoured that both female polar bears are pregnant and are expecting hence the move of Inukshuk. That could be up to 6 cubs, so the move was necessary.
Click to expand...

Wow thank you!!!!! If stripes and twigga were breeding, does that mean a giraffe might be born or is twigga too old to have a baby?
It would be amazing if both bears were pregnant! Imagine how popular the zoo would be with 6 babies + hudson. That is if they all survived. :(:(:( Now I understand why Inukshuk moved.
Also, are the gorillas actually breeding? I know Ngozi can breed, but can Charles? I thought he was too old.
All this baby talk made me think about what the zoo might be like next year. 6 baby polar bears, a baby giraffe, baby gorilla, and plenty of penguin chicks!!! Not to mention the pandas! Next year could be great for the zoo.
 
That be wonderful if the zoo had a few polar bear babies. I am hoping a few more zoos this winter have polar bear cubs. My main attention is on Seneca Park Zoo to see if artificial insemination can be successful on polar bears.
 
Good question about the gorillas. Now that Nassir is 3, I wonder if they are planning on/ hoping for one more baby out of Charles and Ngozi. I dont know if Charles can make it to a third offspring with Ngozi but a second maybe possible. I'd like Nassir to have a little brother or sister. Must be lonely for him being the only really young gorilla. Back when Josephine and Samantha were breeding the little ones usually had someone very close to their age to play with. Plus Charles being wild caught is a genetic gem, especially with just 7 surviving offspring and I think just four grandchildren.

Another animals breeding I'm wondering about is the Orangutans. Budi, Kembali and Jingga almost 7 now and could be working on independance. Puppe is getting up there in age so she might not be bred again even though she is so genetically valuable but Rami and Sekali could be again. While we dont have a breeding male we do have frozen sperm from our past males so AI is possible. Are there any plans for new babies? Or are they likely to wait until they redo the exhibit in the next couple of years?
 
It is possible to see a baby giraffe is Twigga is pregnant. As for the gorillas, they will try and get Charles and Ngozi to breed again last I heard. The Organutans, I have no idea what is going on.
 
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