Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo - Births, Deaths and Transfers 2015

You bring up a lot of good points. The Eurasia Wilds has yet to be promoted to the public that I know of. If you actually go to the zoo, the only ways we'd know it's open is via the map, or when leaving the Panda exhibit, where there is a sign showing where to go to visit the new section.

Incorporating blogs or articles by zookeepers, or hired writers to detail things going on at the zoo would be interesting to see. Webcams would also be an interesting touch, with some of the more poplar animals.

The zoo needs to start looking at ways to reach to the general public about things going on at the zoo. Whether they're new things or old things.
 
Lots of other zoos do fantastic jobs with their websites. They have blogs or occasional articles from keepers. They share details about their animals. They have lots of updates so people can identify with the animals and want to visit them more. The webcams are big too. People from all over can bond with the animals and become more likely to visit the animals that become their friends in a away. I wish I knew anything about web design so I could help.

There are those at the zoo who see the value in what we are saying. Problem is the people at the top thinking things like webcams will drive down attendance. Silly really.

There is no excuse though for the Wilds not being heavily promoted by now. I would have thought they would be pushing that hard. I also thought they would be all over the new hoofstock too, though that kind of has fallen through. We have the foundation of a new giraffe herd and a brand new exhibit. The Watusi exhibit isn't ready. The wildebeest are here. But the eland who were supposed to arrive haven't.
 
Like most of Toronto, the construction at the zoo is extremely slow. I feel the Watusi exhibit should've been done by now. Even the Keepers were getting annoyed with the delays and slow moving forward with construction.

I'm beginning to wonder whether the zoo has plans to promote the Wilds. At this point people are planning summer getaways and visits. Promoting the newest edition to the zoo should be top priority in terms of advertising, although personally, I think the Wilds is a bit of a let down. I spoke with other regular zoo goers who agree. When designing future exhibits, I feel the zoo needs to think about the visual appeal to the exhibits. For example, the Snow leopard exhibit would be far more interesting without a giant fence looming over the entire exhibit. It comes off as cagey, and people tend to notice that.

I'm hoping to visit the zoo sometime next week, I'll try finding out what's happening with the Eland.
 
I was among those watching the giraffe cam for signs of Kiko's departure.
Kiko being on a web cam did not hurt attendance. I know of people who traveled great distances to see him. There is indeed a community of people on Facebook who have gotten together together to watch Kiko, take screen-shots of him, and visit him. When Autumn had her still-birth many ignorant people blamed the zoo. This group got together and brought coffee, donuts, pizzas and a big card with signatures from a cross the US and 3 foreign countries.
The group will likely want to keep updated about Kiko in TZ but will also help with Autumn and Walter.
Autumn and Walter were pretty agitated this morning. They were searching their habitat for Kiko all day. I know they'll settle down, but it was an emotional day for those of us who have had the pleasure of watching him grow up. He's a real character!
 
cypher said:
I'm hoping to visit the zoo sometime next week, I'll try finding out what's happening with the Eland.
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Good luck with that unless you have some connection with the mammal curator. The African keepers including both lead keepers know the zoo plans on getting eland but as they say: we'll believe it when they are here.

They say the same of the F zebra who has been coming from Calgary for a couple of years now.
 
I agree with a lot of the points that have been made in the last few posts. Wildebeest are the first large animal to come to the zoo since the pandas, and they should really be advertised more. Even though they are not an extremely popular species, if they are advertised right, a decent amount of people will probably come to see them. It also confuses me why the Eurasia Wilds was never promoted since it is the first major new zoo exhibit in a while and includes many interesting species like snow leopards, red pandas, sea eagles, etc.
 
Mr Wrinkly said:
Good luck with that unless you have some connection with the mammal curator. The African keepers including both lead keepers know the zoo plans on getting eland but as they say: we'll believe it when they are here.

They say the same of the F zebra who has been coming from Calgary for a couple of years now.
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Yeah, I've hit that roadblock with a couple of the Keepers before. They seem to have come to the collective conclusion that things are said, and they may or may not happen. It's said really, because it's not their fault that the zoo hits delays after delays after delays. Sometimes I get the response of, "We get people asking questions about things we've never heard of at the time."
 
Jake.Roberts said:
Toronto zoo just made a Facebook post about Kiko including a photo. We know forsure he's here now! Awesome!!!
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Great catch Jake. Nice to see everything Kiko went accordingly. Facebook page also mentions a 30 day quarantine, so we're looking at a late June debut. Canada Day would probably be ideal in bringing in visitors.
 
That should be something they should promote, I'm sure tons of people will come on Canada day if enough people know about it!
 
In non Kiko related news the zoo has some new babies.

There are at least 3 turs that have recently been born.

There is also a lynx kitten that was born. From what I hear the kitten is doing well with first time mom Ember. I don't know exactly when the kitten was born so I'm not sure when it will go on display. It will be 8-12 weeks from its birth so keep an eye out in the domain this summer. It is the first lynx kitten to be born at the zoo since 1989. The zoo has only had 5 kittens ever. 1987 saw a female who didn't survive. 1988 had a single male who did survive. And 1989 there were triplets (2 males and a female) who also survived. He or she will be a wonderful addition to the domain. Hopefully this will be the first of many feline births at the zoo with the tigers, lions, cheetahs and clouded leopards also attempting to breed.
 
New Giraffe debut being advertised is almost a guarantee. If it's not advertised, than the zoo is really doing something wrong. People will most definitely come out to see a new Giraffe.

Wow, a Lynx kitten. That will be interesting to see. Although it makes sense, as the last time I saw the Lynx only 1 was on exhibit.
 
The zoo's lynx, Ember and Ryan, had an SSP recommendation to breed. It's nice to see one of the cats being successful. The white lions aren't supposed to be breeding based on AZA recommendations but the tigers and cheetahs have been trying for awhile without success and the clouded leopards were still a little immature this year. If the female snow leopard arrives this fall as planned we can hope for even more cubs.

The first article I can find about Kiko's arrival has another shot of him in the indoor exhibit. Odds are the giraffe house will be closed until he clears quarantine so he can enjoy the exhibit space and be sealed off from the girls.

Kiko arrives at Toronto Zoo
 
A baby lynx is fantastic news! I'm so excited to finally see a baby cat at the zoo. Also, even though it may not be as exciting, it's really nice to see that the West Caucasian turs are breeding because they're a pretty rare species in North America. Between all the babies, the new wildebeest and Kiko, I'll definitely be visiting the zoo as much as I can this summer.
 
Pygmy Hippo - Harvey is to get a new breeding partner - from France! I see from ZTL that four facilities there hold Malayan Tapir but did not search further. The keepers have been told that all the paperwork on both sides is complete and the French export is arranged but the Canadian import approvals are taking a while. The usual problem with hoofstock coming in I suppose, although a hippo is hardly likely to out roaming with Canadian livestock. This female is French born and so is her mother, so new genes for N. America.

Malayan Tapir Tanuck - it was reported here some time ago that he was transferred to Parc Safari and the speculation was that he is to breed with the Bowmanville female who is there while her exhibit is renovated. Today I learned that he is there for breeding, but there is another girl there for him. Neither the keeper or I could think of the zoo name but the earlier report was Parc Safari.

The birds - outdoor birds are all still being held indoors in all areas. There was an outbreak of avian flu in the U.S. midwest and many U.S. zoos are keeping their birds in. Here there was an outbreak on a turkey farm in Sarnia, a keeper says, and that is why TZ is keeping theirs in, probably for 90 days. There was to be a meeting this week to assess the situation but I have not learned the result.

Americas Pavilion - talking to a keeper there this morning about other things he mentioned they had prepared the two outdoor attached exhibits for two arrivals who will be out soon. A Great Horned Owl at the entrance and a Barn Owl at the exit. No one but me seems to remember there was once a Great Horned at the entrance and at another time a Snowy Owl.

River Otters - a male coming from Buffalo to breed with the remaining TZ female has all his paperwork and is waiting for transfer.
 
A new otter and Pygmy hippo are both exciting additions. The hippo is especially interesting and I hope they will successfully breed. I find it surprising that the zoo wants to breed Pygmy hippos since there isn't a ton of space for them in the African rainforest pavilion, but it's still great news.

I'm very happy that the exhibits outside the Americas pavilion will hold new species since the pheasants they currently hold are not very exciting and aren't even technically from North America. It's too bad though that the prehensile tailed porcupines won't have an outdoor summer exhibit anymore. I actually remember when a great horned owl was in the first exhibit and have some (bad) pictures of it at my house. It's great that the zoo has such a good owl collection with Eurasian eagle, snowy, spectacled and now great horned and barn.
 
Yes Jake the zoo did have African Wild Dogs. There was a pack of 4-6, don't remember off the top of my head, who lived at the zoo until 1976. I can double check my facts later for you but they definitely had them. Saddens me deeply that they didn't keep them or get a new pack when the savanna opened or any time since. They are my top choice of new species for the zoo.

There are other past species at the zoo. You can find as complete a list as the group has been able to assemble in the following thread.

http://www.zoochat.com/223/former-toronto-zoo-animals-360611/
 
9000 Puerto Rican Crested Toad tadpoles have been sent to Puerto Rico to be released into the wild Jun 11th. These tadpoles mean that the zoo has released 140,128 tadpoles back into the wild.

Toronto Zoo | Press Releases
 
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