Toronto Zoo Snow Leopards

T

tiffanyanddave

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
It's been nearly 6 months since my last visit to the Toronto Zoo, sadly. Anyways, I was just wondering if anybody can confirm whether or not the breeding pair of snow leopards, Kota and Tiga, have been reunited again yet since their 2009 litter of cubs. I know that there has been some talk that they may not breed them again (at least for a few years) because they have such difficulty in finding home for the cubs each litter and lack of holding space. I'm hoping that they will still put Kota back in with Tiga and put her on birth control or something if they don't intend to breed her again yet because they are, without a doubt, one of the most loving animal companions.

I know that there are future plans for a completely new snow leopard enclosure, but like most things at the Toronto Zoo, that's many years away still.
 
As far as I know the male from the 2007 litter is still at the zoo (in the health center, off exhibit. The feamle cub left for philly in 2009) and both of our 2009 cubs are still here

I would'nt be surprised if they did'nt breed them pair this year, they are obviously successful breeders, and I'm sure they would have no problem breeding in another season if given the choice
 
I thought I saw them together on December 15th. The keeper was feeding Kota, and was trying to coax Tiga down from her perch :)
 
Thank you both for your replies. My zoo membership ran out several months before winter and it had been a while since I had a chance to visit the zoo.

Luckily, I got a membership for my birthday recently. I went to the zoo a few days ago. I can confirm now that it is the adult female, Tiga, in the enclosure with the young female cub from the 2009 litter, Keira. Keira was the one who had a problem with one of her hips which was causing her to limp and was limiting her mobility considerably. Last I heard, they were considering surgery from the same doctor who did Tatiana's hip surgeries. However, I wasn't able to confirm if Keira ended up getting the surgery or not. But I guess either way, that would make it take longer for TZ to have her sent to another zoo and even longer for Tiga to get back together with Kota.

Thanks again. I will update more as I find out more. Cheers!
 
I remember hearing that there's relatively little room in the snow leopard enclosure and I'd have to agree from what I've seen of it. I really believe that it's mostly designed for only two or so full grown and only has limited space for the younger cubs. It seems like it's been difficult to find homes for the cubs and have enough room to continue breeding. I believe that the snow leopards will be getting a new home with the Eurasia area changes and improvements over the next few years and I really hope that they have a bigger and better space once it is done. I know that when I went on the zoomobile once in the summer, they commented that the plants blocking most of the view from the zoomobile (the back of the snow leopard enclosure from the usual visitor viewing) were there to block the sun in the summer and give plenty of shade. I hope that the new space will have more shade and that they'll be able to stay cool and be a bit more comfortable in the summer.
 
You are right, there isn't much room in the snow leopard enclosure for more than two adults ideally. It's quite an old enclosure as well and not the best set up for raising young either. Anytime cubs are born, Kota the adult male, gets sent all the way across the zoo to a small enclosure far behind the pavilion with butterflies where visitors have no access. You can often hear his vocalizations near that pavilion.

From what I have been told, they do have plans to create a new snow leopard enclosure when they do more renovations to the Eurasia section. The plans were to build the new enclosure surrounding one of the goat/sheep mountain structures and to utilize that mountain structure as a part of the snow leopard enclosure. Obviously the goats/sheep would be moved elsewhere, although I'm not even sure which species exactly. They plan to make the new enclosure more modern, much larger and better for breeding purposes since Kota and Tiga are still relatively young and have a decent success rate so far. The zoo staff are not very confident as to how many years away this is going to be because of financial reasons and were quite opposed to the amount of money going toward those giant pandas when money could clearly go to so many other areas of the zoo.
 
Kota and Tiga are back together! :)

Kota is spending the majority of the time inside the building because Tiga is putting him in his place during his first few weeks back in the snow leopard enclosure. Before we know it, they will be snuggling again as they make a great pair.

They have put a birth control implant in Tiga though and wont be breeding her at the present time.
 
@sealife I am almost 100% sure that the two snow leopards you saw was Tiga and her female cub.
 
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