This weeks animals of the week... giraffes Twiga and Mstari! It was taped before Kiko arrived.
Amazing Animals: Meet Twiga and Mstari from the Toronto Zoo
Amazing Animals: Meet Twiga and Mstari from the Toronto Zoo
Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo - Births, Deaths and Transfers 2015
- Thread starter TZFan
- Start date
White rhino male, Tom, will be rejoining females Sabi and Zohari for breeding shortly. Fingers crossed this summer will produce at least one pregnancy, two would be fantastic. \
Bigger news, keepers believe Indian rhino, Asha, may indeed be pregnant. Her hormones and behaviour both are strongly indicating it. Unfortunately Asha isn't trained for ultrasounds and has a fear of the chute due to a bad experience so it may be hard to get her to participate in an ultrasound. They may not know for certain until a calf arrives around the expected birth window. If it is from last years late summer breeding then if I remember right the calf would be due sometime after late December or into 2016.
Bigger news, keepers believe Indian rhino, Asha, may indeed be pregnant. Her hormones and behaviour both are strongly indicating it. Unfortunately Asha isn't trained for ultrasounds and has a fear of the chute due to a bad experience so it may be hard to get her to participate in an ultrasound. They may not know for certain until a calf arrives around the expected birth window. If it is from last years late summer breeding then if I remember right the calf would be due sometime after late December or into 2016.
He did. He was a wonderful old man, the O&D team was working on getting him out-and-about in the zoo, but I always remember him fixing his nest, making sure it was perfect.
One little titbit about Mikisi, he had a preference to which keeper he worked with, which is rare for birds of prey as the only generally care about who has food (with the exception of the abused and odd birds out), but he preferred to work with some keepers over others, which just made him even more special.
RIP Mikisi.
One little titbit about Mikisi, he had a preference to which keeper he worked with, which is rare for birds of prey as the only generally care about who has food (with the exception of the abused and odd birds out), but he preferred to work with some keepers over others, which just made him even more special.
RIP Mikisi.
Checking the keepers twitter I saw someone posted a photo of the white rhinos breeding. Assuming the photo is from this year, it appears Tom is already at work trying to produce a calf. In further good news from the photo it appears the other female is totally disinterested in the breeding. If I remember right last year the girls were tag teaming Tom and he was having trouble getting a chance to breed. Hopefully he gets lots of opportunities this summer with both girls and we will be looking forward to a calf or two come next winter.
This weeks animals of the week... the goats in the Discovery Zone.
Amazing Animals: Meet the goats from the Toronto Zoo
Amazing Animals: Meet the goats from the Toronto Zoo
Jake.Roberts
Well-Known Member
Seven wild Trumpeter Swan cygnets where born in the Canadian Domain pond!
The zoo has released 21 Blanding's turtles to a pond that will be part of Rouge National Urban Park to help rebuild the turtles population in the area.
Toronto Zoo | Press Releases
Toronto Zoo | Press Releases
Breeding was in October and she will be due in Jan - Feb, 2016.
A picture of Asha's mother Tashi and baby sister Monica at Buffalo Zoo:
http://www.zoochat.com/gallery/data/986/Indian_Rhino4.JPG
Monica made history when she was conceived by artificial insemination - the father had died 10 years before.
River Otters - a male is still coming from Buffalo - expected mid-July, quarantine in the Health Centre, and on exhibit late August is the plan.
Spotted neck Otters -keepers believe the female is pregnant but it is not confirmed yet.
Pink-backed Pelicans - are going to a Fresno zoo, and are awaiting the formalities to move. The reason is the climate is so unsuitable they are indoors up to 8 months with a pool that is not big enough. They are supposed to breed but the situation is not suitable.
Great White Pelican was moved to Florida - that may have been reported here before.
Penguins are up to 23 from 12 and they are looking for a move for some of them.
Spotted neck Otters -keepers believe the female is pregnant but it is not confirmed yet.
Pink-backed Pelicans - are going to a Fresno zoo, and are awaiting the formalities to move. The reason is the climate is so unsuitable they are indoors up to 8 months with a pool that is not big enough. They are supposed to breed but the situation is not suitable.
Great White Pelican was moved to Florida - that may have been reported here before.
Penguins are up to 23 from 12 and they are looking for a move for some of them.
arcticwolf
Well-Known Member
The news about both otter species is great! I'm especially excited about the possible baby spotted necked otters. I just hope there is enough room in the exhibit for all of them!
It's too bad about the pelicans leaving since they were some of my favourite birds at the zoo. At least there's a good reason for them leaving and hopefully they will enjoy their new lives in Fresno and Florida.
It's too bad about the pelicans leaving since they were some of my favourite birds at the zoo. At least there's a good reason for them leaving and hopefully they will enjoy their new lives in Fresno and Florida.
I'm super excited to hear about the possibility of otter pups. It would be fantastic to see some whether we get to see some soon with the spotted necked otters or have to wait until next spring for river otters.
A surviving spotted necked otter pup for the zoo would be a first. A single female pup was born to Toronto's first pair in 1988. She lived less than a month. That first pair never reproduced again because the male died just over a year later. The next pair Matthew and Winnie never reproduced in but they were full siblings so with good reason. Fred and Ginger were never successful. It's nice to think that at 15 plus years old Fred is finally going to be a father. Males tend not to breed beyond 13. And he is the oldest male in the population by a bit. If he is successful here the pup with be incredibly valuable since Fred is a wild born male without any offspring to date. In a population that is under 25 animals with just 6 founders Fred breeding even once will be huge. They often have a single pup but twins are a possibility. First year mortality for pups is 58% for males and 26% for females. The zoo will be very cautious with the pup or pups given the high mortality rate the the extreme genetic value of them.
So pleased to hear the male river otters is on his way. He can settle in and get to know Talise with plenty of time before breeding season begins.
It is a shame we have to loose the pelicans. They helped to fill the exhibit and really make it more interesting. Now we will have another boring old barely mixed exhibit. They are probably considering getting rid of the cormorants too so they can go back to dull single species exhibit.
A surviving spotted necked otter pup for the zoo would be a first. A single female pup was born to Toronto's first pair in 1988. She lived less than a month. That first pair never reproduced again because the male died just over a year later. The next pair Matthew and Winnie never reproduced in but they were full siblings so with good reason. Fred and Ginger were never successful. It's nice to think that at 15 plus years old Fred is finally going to be a father. Males tend not to breed beyond 13. And he is the oldest male in the population by a bit. If he is successful here the pup with be incredibly valuable since Fred is a wild born male without any offspring to date. In a population that is under 25 animals with just 6 founders Fred breeding even once will be huge. They often have a single pup but twins are a possibility. First year mortality for pups is 58% for males and 26% for females. The zoo will be very cautious with the pup or pups given the high mortality rate the the extreme genetic value of them.
So pleased to hear the male river otters is on his way. He can settle in and get to know Talise with plenty of time before breeding season begins.
It is a shame we have to loose the pelicans. They helped to fill the exhibit and really make it more interesting. Now we will have another boring old barely mixed exhibit. They are probably considering getting rid of the cormorants too so they can go back to dull single species exhibit.
Slow down! Spotted-neck is not confirmed and the male River Otter is not even here yet!
I know Buffalo had a couple of litters last year so if one of those comes, I don't know if he will be ready to breed.
I know Buffalo had a couple of litters last year so if one of those comes, I don't know if he will be ready to breed.
Oh I know otter pups are far from certain for either species.
I just happened to have all of the stats at my finger tips for spotted necked otter reproduction and thought I would share. It would be huge if the zoo could produce a surviving pup or two but the odds aren't that good given Fred's age and the high mortality rate. Just have to wait and see.
The odds are better for the river otters. The arriving male will just barely be mature by breeding season. Might take an extra year before there is much hope of pups but it's a definite possibility for 2016. With litters of 1-3 pups and a much lower mortality rate (25% for males and 23% for females) again the odds are better. Talise's pups would also be pretty valuable because she is wild born and therefore a potential founder. Though with a much bigger population adding a founder with the river otters isnt as massive as the African otters.
I discovered something unfortunate about our clouded leopards. Mingma and Pavarti are cousins. Mingma's mother Sita is the litter mate of Pavarti's father Luk. Despite being closely related they are to be a breeding pair. There are just 8 proven breeding pairs right now and because mates need to be introduced as young as possible, under 1 year ideally, that means limited choices for potential mates. Genetic diversity is a real issue for clouded leopards.
I just happened to have all of the stats at my finger tips for spotted necked otter reproduction and thought I would share. It would be huge if the zoo could produce a surviving pup or two but the odds aren't that good given Fred's age and the high mortality rate. Just have to wait and see.
The odds are better for the river otters. The arriving male will just barely be mature by breeding season. Might take an extra year before there is much hope of pups but it's a definite possibility for 2016. With litters of 1-3 pups and a much lower mortality rate (25% for males and 23% for females) again the odds are better. Talise's pups would also be pretty valuable because she is wild born and therefore a potential founder. Though with a much bigger population adding a founder with the river otters isnt as massive as the African otters.
I discovered something unfortunate about our clouded leopards. Mingma and Pavarti are cousins. Mingma's mother Sita is the litter mate of Pavarti's father Luk. Despite being closely related they are to be a breeding pair. There are just 8 proven breeding pairs right now and because mates need to be introduced as young as possible, under 1 year ideally, that means limited choices for potential mates. Genetic diversity is a real issue for clouded leopards.