Toronto Zoo The zoos AZA future?

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Kitten6

New Member
I was just wondering if anyone knows about this. I did some research when the Toronto Zoo got their new white lions and even had a sign up about how they were going to be working on a White Lion "conservation" program. I sent an email asking them about it, as AZA doesn't support the breeding of white lions or tigers. I'm not sure if this extends to actually not accrediting organizations that do. My last zoo trip the sign about white lion conservation was gone, so I thought that maybe they silently rethought the idea of breeding them. And then I saw on facebook about the zoo's new white lion cubs.

Will this affect their ability to get their accreditation back? I've been trying to do some research, but haven't had any luck.
 
Last I heard the Toronto Zoo we be trying for renewal in March 2016. Here's a link provin this that other user (Shouganai) posted:

https://www.aza.org/upcoming-reviews/

As for the White Lions breeding, I don't think that will affect the outcome of the renewal process. It's just that the AZA doesn't suggest the breeding. It's not a law/rule that must be followed to join the AZA.
 
I've found the following sources citing that AZA permits housing of animals containing recessive alleles often tied to genetic deformities (ie. white large cats), but that BREEDING of these animals "...are not in adherence with AZA’s Board-approved Policy on the Presentation of Animals " (AZA 2011)

Big Cat Rescue also talks about the "ban" on breeding white lions and tigers. (Source. Where they state "...until 2008 when AZA issued a request to their members to stop breeding white tigers and then later in July 2011 when the AZA formally adopted that stance as policy." Several other sites also talk about this, and while some do seem a bit extremist in their dislike of various zoo practices, they all quote the paper released by AZA itself.

While the AZA site itself doesn't specifically say they've "banned" it, saying that it's not in adherence with their policies seems pretty much the same thing to me.
 
Can't look at your link right now (Too busy) but it seems interesting. I guess we'll wait and see what happened during the renewal process.
 
The AZA recommends zoos not do things. Sometimes they are hard rules. Sometimes they just recommend not doing something. Will they eventually force a ban... probably... but for now no. It's just a very strong recommendation. The AZA will not participate in anything to do with those animals... no help arranging trades, breeding or acquiring but it wont openly punish a zoo for doing those things. They would just prefer the zoos house normal African lions, Sumatran Tigers, Malayan Tigers and Amur Tigers. It will in no way prevent the zoo from gaining accreditation.

The only real thing that would have prevented the AZA from letting the zoo back in was if the only real reason for the zoo getting the boot in the first place was still not corrected. The city messing around in animal welfare decisions was the problem. The zoo had good animal care, good finances, reasonable exhibits (yes changes are needed but all zoos have areas needing improvement), great staff, ect. Just the governance problem got in the way. If the staff had chosen to send the elephants to PAWS it wouldn't have been a big issue. The AZA would have said they didn't like the choice but would have dealt with it.
 
Like I said, it's the wording in the AZA's paper that confuses me, and I can't get an official response from anyone. As for why the zoo doesn't have AZA status now, they actually DID reapply. The reason that they don't already have it, from what I recall from talking to keepers, and from behind the scenes tours through my university, etc, is because since they lost it, they now had to meet extra criteria before they could be recertified. From what I recall, the reason was that their veterinary facilities needed to be upgraded before they were "to code" with AZA (this came up when they were talking about the new facility that they were building).

This indicates that more than just the fact that the city was able to determine the fate of zoo animals has been keeping the zoo from obtaining their certification again. This also makes me wonder if while breeding of white lions may not be something to deny membership for zoos that were already members and participating in this practice before 2011 (when AZA published their paper where they state that the breeding of such animals was "not in adherence" to their policies. That phrasing seems more concrete than if they had said "is not recommended". "Not in adherence" to me, states that it is a more concrete policy. But again, I'm not sure. Where I work, they are just CAZA certified, so I don't know much about AZA. Which is why I'm here, to see if anyone knows anything more concrete.

Note, I'm not worried about the zoo HOUSING white lions. I'm worried about them intentionally BREEDING them. Which they have done, and which is what the AZA seems to have more issue with. Here's a link about the white lion cubs, proving the breeding, if anyone had any doubts :Toronto Zoo's white lion cubs growing up fast - Toronto - CBC News
 
We've all been aware of both the zoo's wish to breed the white lions, as well as their success.

If I remember correctly, and one of the others might remember better than me, but two reasons for the zoo getting the boot from AZA was the substandard Orang enclosure and the ageing veterinary facilities. Construction has begun on the new hospital, and plans are in motion for the Orang's. Also the AZA had issue with the zoo being run by the city, which the zoo also has plans for which were recently laid out in the master plan.

I might have missed something or misspoke, but the others all have a pretty good handle on the situation.
 
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