Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo - Births, Deaths and Transfers 2015

I just remembered that I heard the Wildebeest will be going into Norm's exhibit, and he won't return there. Not sure where he'll be going, but I'm thinking he'll probably be left off exhibit.

"Norm's exhibit" was actually the wildebeest exhibit. You can still see the grooves in the sod made by wildebeest pacing along the fences.
 
Greenville Zoo: "Kiko was the first baby for Autumn, a 9-year-old female Masai giraffe, and Walter, a 9-year-old male. Autumn was born at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and Walter is from the San Diego Zoo. Both animals arrived in Greenville in July 2007 as part of a three-way loan agreement."

So Kiko actually belongs to Franklin Park, as his mother's first-born. Kiko and Mstari's first-born will belong to Toronto and their second will belong to Franklin Park.

Also some seem to think Kiko will breed Twiga but she is at the limit of reproducing according to the lead keeper and they don't want that. When the male, Stripes, died, another keeper said one more pregnancy might be OK but that was over two years ago.

According to the lead keeper, the quarantine will be 90 days, so Kiko will not be on exhibit until at least September, depending on when he arrives. Before anything he has to get across the border, not so easy with hoofstock rules and regs.
 
I can't wait for Kiko to arrive! It will be so nice to have another giraffe on exhibit. I agree with TZFan that it's good that if something happens to one of the giraffes, the other won't be alone.

The news about the wildebeest is also very good and hopefully they'll be on exhibit soon. What I'm curious about is where their winter holding will be, since the ostrich house which is close by is most likely too small.
 
"Norm's exhibit" was actually the wildebeest exhibit. You can still see the grooves in the sod made by wildebeest pacing along the fences.

Yeah, I just mentioned it because there were talks about putting the Wildebeest in the Ostrich exhibit, and moving the Ostriches to the Giraffe exhibit. Although that situation seems to have been axed.
 
My memory isn't serving me to well, is Norm's old exhibit the one by the hippo's or out back on the way to the Domain. Haven't seen him in so long I can't really remember where I last saw him.
 
Norm's was the one that was on the path to and from the Canadian Domain. The exhibit by the hippos currently has Lucy and her piglets.
 
According to the lead keeper, the quarantine will be 90 days, so Kiko will not be on exhibit until at least September, depending on when he arrives. Before anything he has to get across the border, not so easy with hoofstock rules and regs.


According to Facebook Kiko is slated for a 30 day quarantine. Naturally we need to take what they say there with a grain of salt. Keepers do not run facebook. And you certainly know which keepers can be trusted for reliable info... your leg work was the only way we figured out which male was coming months ago. Guess we may just have to wait and see how soon the big guy goes on display.
 
Went to the see on this fine sunny day. Talked with some Keepers and this is what I found out.

Spoke with the White Rhino Keeper looking to see if there is any news on whether the girls may be pregnant or not. She said they’ve done some testing with urine, and the results were negative. However, they found out they may have done the test a bit too early, as they can’t detect pregnancy before the 3 month mark, which is when they did the testing. They’re still training the girls for blood testing which is a more accurate test, but they’ve been difficult in that area. So, when the weather gets warmer, mainly overnight, they’ll put the girls back out with Tom for the summer for safe measure.

For the Cheetahs Emma, Mahala, Akeelah and Tika are all on exhibit. Cleo is currently with the males hopefully breeding. Keeper said that there a 3 males and 1 female off exhibit. Bomani being one of the males (can’t remember the names of the other two) and Jamoccha being the 1 female. She’s 12 years old, so she’s pretty much retired from being on exhibit. Keepers are really hoping for pregnancies by the end of this summer, as they are hoping to try artificial insemination along with regular breeding.

Last bit of news is the Indian Rhino. I spoke with the Keeper after the Keeper talk, and they believe Asha may be pregnant. Throughout the entire winter she hasn’t been cycling, which Keepers notice through behavioural changes. When Asha is cycling, she makes clicking noises and whistling noises, which does get the attention of Vishnu, who tries to get to her. This didn’t happen all throughout the winter. Now the Keeper did mention that Asha has never carried a pregnancy through full term, and they believe it was due to a deficiency of a certain hormone, which is being supplemented into Asha’s diet, which Keepers keep an eye on through urine samples. So far everything looks good, but it’s still early, and they have yet to full confirm an actual pregnancy. Only time will tell.

Also, keep in mind that if the White Rhinos or Indian Rhinos are pregnant, it will be a long time before we seem them, as they have a gestation period of 15-18 months.
 
I guess they kept breeding going through the winter with the white rhinos. Its the only way the could be less than 3 months pregnant. The girls were still pretty young last summer so it still might optimistic.

There should be 4 male cheetahs unless someone moved or died and we dont know yet. The males would be Zeke, Rafiki, Bomani and Patonga. Cleo could only be breed by Zeke and Bomani. Rafiki is her father and Patonga is her brother. The females are Emma, Mahala, Tika, Cleo and Akeelah.

Im most hopeful about Asha and Vishnu. There were hopes in the fall she might have been pregnant because she missed cycling two months. If thats the case then fingers crossed for a early 2016 calf. Asha has only been pregnant the one time I believe. The male calf was stillborn.
 
I don't remember the Keeper mentioning Rafiki as one of the males off exhibit for the Cheetahs. The other names are familiar. Zeke and Bomani are the ones that the Keeper said were breeding with Cleo.
 
Another big announcement from the zoo, giant panda Er Shun, was artificially inseminated May 14th. They used semen collected from Da Mao and frozen semen from two pandas in China. Now its a waiting game with anywhere from 87 to 186 days of wondering ahead. The birth window would be from August 9th to Nov 16th.

Fall could be a very busy time for babies.
 
That explains why Er Shun has been off exhibit for a while now. And I believe currently, Da Mao can only be viewed indoors.
 
Cheetah Rafiki passed away at the end of April - he had a large inoperable growth on his spleen.
He was a big and impressive male and was only on exhibit for a short time after his arrival last spring, then went off exhibit for breeding duties (see gallery).
 
Hyena Pinduli is leaving for a New Mexico zoo next week and another female will be coming from a Canadian facility, which the keeper I was speaking with could not remember. **Edit - on reflection the keeper said a facility nearby and I assumed Canada, however TZFan has found the most likely prospect at Buffalo.

Male giraffe Kiko is scheduled to arrive in a week. He was supposed to be quarantined for 90 days but the Zoo vet. authorized only 30 days.

White Rhino females were not being bred over the winter and recently the zoo's reproduction specialist confirmed neither is pregnant. They will very soon be putting the girls and a male on exhibit together in hopes of a pregnancy - ha, maybe two.
 
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That explains why Er Shun has been off exhibit for a while now. And I believe currently, Da Mao can only be viewed indoors.

Last Friday and the week before Er Shun was on exhibit and Da Mao was outside. Don't know about today.
 
All of this news about pregnancies has me really excited. I would love to see any of the species mentioned have babies, although I realize for the rhinos it might take a long time.

Also, I an't wait for Kiko and the new hyena to arrive.
 
Sad to hear Rafiki died. He was our only proven male. Although he is well represented at the zoo by his son Patonga and daughters Cleo, Tika and Akeelah, just as Mya remains well represented by her son Bomani, daughters Emma and Mahala and granddaughters Tika and Akeelah. Yep our zoo has a pretty shallow gene pool when it comes to the cheetahs. Zeke is the only one not related to others.

Pinduli will be going to Rio Grande where she will be housed with their male who is considered over represented. Her departure is a good thing considering Echo being imported from South Africa is the highest ranking male in the SSP. Leaving him with a spayed female would be a waste. However I have heard that the incoming female is actually 3 year old Kanzi from Buffalo. She is a highly valuable female who descends from a wild born mother and a first generation father, who only had her and one other sibling together. If it is indeed Kanzi who arrives their cubs will be highly sought after which means lots of cubs for us. I can only think of one other facility with spotted hyenas in Canada, Parc Safari, the same place we got Echo from. He was imported with two females. I think that is it for spotted hyenas in Canada, just the 5. There must be a reason Parc Safari gave us Echo in exchange for cheetah Azu last summer. They could have kept him for breeding. Perhaps he is related to the girls there. The only other thing I could see happening is splitting the girls up and splitting up our boys and sending Moja to be with the remaining female at Parc Safari. Personally I think it will be Kanzi from Buffalo arriving.
 
Last Friday and the week before Er Shun was on exhibit and Da Mao was outside. Don't know about today.

Yeah, all this week she hasn't been on exhibit.

Also, interesting to here about the new female Hyena. Cubs from them will be pretty interesting to see.
 
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