Assiniboine Park Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo News 2022

BovidBabe

Well-Known Member
Arctic Vets returns for season 2 tonight at 8:30 CT! It will premiere on CBC, or you can stream it from CBC Gem (which is free.)

The Zoo will also be closed January 10-14 as they do some routine maintenance.
 
Also! Announcement of some new animals. Youri the amur tiger is now through quarantine and is on display, there is now a pair of reeves's pheasants in toucan ridge, and a new male red kangraroo named Dobby. I was expecting a new kangaroo, as the curator said they were looking for a new breeding male for the herd back in october. Let's hope for some joeys!

of course I get my monthly newsletter after I already post :p
 
Lol @BovidBabe, thats always the way it is. Post news and 5 seconds later learn something new.

Nice that there are some new faces for you to meet. Wonder if they will try introducing Youri to Volga again to see if they can cohab will she is on birth control. Probably not for safety.

Winnipeg has an impressive red roo mob. Gotta say little jealous. Toronto has far less western greys. I miss having a large mob. I also really would love to have reds. I think it's a safe bet you will get lots of joeys. The majority of females are less than 6 years old.
 
Unfortunate news today, one of the horses in the McFeetors Heavy Horse Center has passed away. Victor was the only clydesdale, setting himself apart from the rest of the herd who are all white percherons. He was a sweet boy who was enthusiastic at his job.
 
Looks like some new animals have made their home in Toucan Ridge. Totem and Shade are the new Indian Fruit Bats.

I haven't been to the zoo in a while between work and nasty weather, so let's hope it starts to warm up, even if they are calling for -50 C tonight!
 
Oh nasty temp. Stay warm @BovidBabe.

Nice that you are getting a new species. I have fond memories of Indian fruit bats in Toronto. They looked so much friendlier then our North American species, probably because they have fox faces.
 
It was hovering right around 0 today, so I took the opportunity to go visit the zoo!

@TZFan you will be happy to hear I did get some photos of Aunt Sally's Farm, however I will have to wait until spring to get more. I will be uploading those shortly! The goats, pigs, and llamas are in the barn until it is a little warmer, and the horse barn was closed for visitors. Those are still on my list, as well as the upgraded lynx and cougar habitats once they are finished those upgrades. That and the new bison platforms, but the sun didn't play nice with me today.

While I wasn't able to catch the cat keeper, I did run into one of the animal health care team in toucan ridge. The Indian Fruit Bats aren't actually new! They lived in the discovery center for a little while, but got ill and have been living in the animal healthcare center for the past two years. They are planning on modifying one of the existing indoor/outdoor spaces in toucan ridge for them, if they stay healthy. Right now they are free flight in Toucan Ridge, and their structure is in the area with the peruvian thick-knee (Bill). I also plan on getting a better picture of that once the weather warms and there isn't as big of a temperature shock to my camera, so this phone picture is the best I could get!
fruit bats.jpg
 

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Nice to see them. Hope they stay healthy so you can enjoy them.

Looking forward to your other photos.
 
Staff at the Assiniboine Zoo have vaccinated several species against covid-19 with the Zoetis made vaccine. 55 animals have been or will be vaccinated. The cats, primates, camels, goats, llama, skunk and meerkats.

Luckily Assiniboine Zoo has not seen any covid cases in any of the animals, and let's hope it stays that way.
 
April member update has some news - the Leatherdal International Polar Bear Conservation Center is finally open again! I haven't been in there yet- it has been closed since I moved here, so I excited to poke my head in next time I am there!

Staff are monitoring the avian influenza outbreak - there have been no cases in MB yet thankfully, however they are prepared to keep some species indoors for the warm months.
 
On the very small off-chance that someone may be planning to go to the zoo tomorrow or Thursday:

After careful consideration, due to extreme weather conditions forecast for the City of Winnipeg over the next couple of days, the Assiniboine Park Conservancy has made the decision to proactively close the Assiniboine Park Zoo on Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14.

This storm of the decade is preemptively shutting down most of the city. Stay safe, any fellow Manitobans!
 
Is that gonna impact your trip to Toronto, BovidBabe? I know you mentioned coming this way around Easter. Hopefully it wont impact your visit. Stay safe and when you arrive here you can enjoy our trees starting to leaf and an absence of snow.
 
Is that gonna impact your trip to Toronto, BovidBabe? I know you mentioned coming this way around Easter. Hopefully it wont impact your visit. Stay safe and when you arrive here you can enjoy our trees starting to leaf and an absence of snow.
I hope not! My flight is friday afternoon, so it should be cleared up by then. The drive to the airport just may not be very pleasant, and I may be a wee bit delayed. The visit to the zoo is planned for sunday, so if I am delayed a day it won't be too bad. Just may not see as much of the family :p
 
@BovidBabe, good to hear. Hope it's nowhere near as bad as predicted. Stay safe and warm! And your timing for your visit is good, the new orang infant might be on display if the team and Sekali are ready for it.
 
The zoo is closed temporarily today (April 24th) due to flooding from the excessive rainfall. The zoo reports that some habitats have flooded, but they are making sure everyone has dry land. No reports of damages at the moment.

There has been some freak weather this spring.
 
Two new baby reindeer have been welcome into the world! The first was born to Sami on April 15th and is already on display in the asia herd. The second was born on April 23rd to Aurora and is currently behind the scenes. Both were sired by Victor.

I was going to go tomorrow but alas... Winnipeg is being hit by a freak storm for the 3rd weekend in a row... At least we aren't supposed to get snow in this one. Hoping to get to the zoo next week to catch up and see what is new.
 
Sadly, we lost another horse from the Heavy Horse Center. Ice, one of the percherons, has passed of suspected Equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy. They are waiting on lab confirmation.
 
That's unfortunate to lose another big horse. Hopefully it will mean they can give another horse a good home.
 
I hope they can bring in another Clydesdale or a belgian draft and highlight more of the breeds that helped build Manitoba. However, they do need to make sure they are a good fit for their wagon pulls.

Might go on a wagon ride on the weekend as a little tribute. It offers a great view of their chimney swift tower.
 
A good morning to go to the zoo! Wasn't too busy as it was windy and overcast (which eventually turned to rain). They had a few interactive stations set for the earth day celebration catch up day.

I am honestly quite surprised that almost all birds were still out in the free flight areas of the zoo. Everyone still seemed to be there in the discovery center, and I only noted a few missing residents in Toucan Ridge. The conures and cockatoos were not to be seen. Everyone still had outdoor access. A few birds even flew right right by my head! However, the pelican and geese, turkeys, and demoiselle crane are still off exhibit. Not sure if it's because of HPAI or because it hasn't quite hit summer temperatures yet. I noted some geese nests in some exhibits, notably the the markhor who didn't seem to care.

The tamarins have been moved to another section in Toucan ridge, and they have an empty space. Curious if that is for the flying foxes, or if there may be another new resident on the way. I also spotted the serrow in the behind the scenes of the asia section, so I wonder if they will move him from the grasslands to the more appropriate animals of asia section.

No word on if they are going to get anymore horses. This is understandable, as we just Ice. Right now they are down to 4, but iirc they can support 7.

Will upload a few pictures once I have got them on my computer. Got some good pictures in the polar bear tunnel. Good day until the rain hit!
 
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