Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2018

TZFan said:
Kifaru Bwana is right Vishnu is going nowhere. The SSP tends not to break up breeding pair until they have had a number of calves. Two is hardly the tipping point. Even if the SSP wants to mix up the breeding since Vishnu is property of Toronto it's more likely Asha would go.

Cross border transfers has long been an issue. What the AZA tries to do is get a healthy population going in Canada, usually located at Toronto, Calgary, Granby, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. They then let the population breeding until its time to bring in new blood. Any offspring that can be sent south is as soon as possible but they keep a couple up here for breeding. The other CAZA zoos are good in that they can hold surplus until the AZA needs them for breeding in the US. Plus CAZA zoos can also apply as non member participants to SSP programs and a number of them do participate in a few. The border doesn't pose much of a problem for many species but hoofstock and primates are always a problem.
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I know it's best for the species, but I have to admit I did feel sorry for Jamie (Lowry Park Zoo) when she and Naboo kept having calves and wondered when she'd ever get a break from motherhood. Maybe she enjoyed it, maybe she didn't. I just know that from her first calf Jaya (F) in 2009 to Jiyu (M) in 2013 she was pretty much constantly tending to them. Also apparently unlike a lot of other rhino pairs she and Naboo had a good chemistry and got along well on exhibit together when not in breeding mode. Naboo left sometime after 2012 and I've heard he is at African Lion Safari. Have you seen him? I miss him!
 
@Sarus Crane, it would be within the expected birth interval to have a 3-year time gap between calves.

Somewhat out of the mainstream Lowry Park had 3 calves born between 2009 and 2013 (the middle one was Jahi (2011)). Your Naboo is actually more widely known as Arjun and indeed left in 2014 for Rockton.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
@Sarus Crane, it would be within the expected birth interval to have a 3-year time gap between calves.

Somewhat out of the mainstream Lowry Park had 3 calves born between 2009 and 2013 (the middle one was Jahi (2011)). Your Naboo is actually more widely known as Arjun and indeed left in 2014 for Rockton.
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I knew his formal name was Arjun. I guess his keepers liked the name Naboo. I got to go behind the scenes at the zoo in 2012 and the keeper who gave me the tour said they nicknamed most of the animals after Star Wars characters. Now Johnny from Zoo Miami lives there and they have feeding interactions between him and the guests for an additional fee. I fed him in Miami in 2011. I also got to feed Suru and wished I could bring one of them home. I'd love to have a pet Indian Rhino if it was allowed and I had the money. They're just like giant puppies that weigh 2-3 tons and sometimes don't know their own strength!
 
The African Lion Safari does have an Indian rhino named Naboo, I worked with him last summer. He’s housed with the only other Indian rhino at ALS, Clover, sister of Toronto Zoo’s Asha.

That being said the Aldabra tortoises are on exhibit as of today.
 
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Apparently there are three "new" aldabara tortoises, the reason I put it in quotations is because apparently they've been here before. There names are Rasputin, Queenie. and Malila. Apparently all three lived at Toronto between 1975-1999!
 
The Aldabra tortoises are now on display with the lemurs. Rasputin, Queenie and Millie are the original tortoise who lived at the zoo and remained with the zoo until moving to Fort Worth in 1999. Great to have our old friends back. I hear the outdoor display is still a go. The lemurs are their winter home like the cranes.
 
Jake.Roberts said:
The African Lion Safari does have an Indian rhino named Naboo, I worked with him last summer. He’s housed with the only other Indian rhino at ALS, Clover, sister of Toronto Zoo’s Asha.

That being said the Aldabra tortoises are on exhibit as of today.
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I hope you had a lot of fun working with him.
 
Really hyped to see the tortoises! I've never seen an Aldabra Tortoise in my life, so this might be an interesting experience.

Although, ever since the African River Fishes exhibit got "temporarily" closed the African Rainforest pavilion is probably my least favorite part of the zoo other then that empty exhibit in the Indomalaya pavilion that's been covered... never really saw the need to continue keeping that there.

I went to Zoo Camp in 2015 and apparently some insects used to live in there but eventually died out...
 
That African river fishes exhibit is actually now finally full of water and fish. I saw it yesterday, but I was in a hurry and didn’t look at it that closely!
 
Ostrich, Miss Ellie, was put down recently. If I remember right she was fairly old and had been at the zoo a really long time.
 
The zoo made it official today; announcing that gorilla Ngozi is pregnant. From the zoo's facebook post: "breeding between Charles and Ngozi was observed in the beginning of October. She is expected to give birth near the end of May or beginning of June. She’s gained approximately 8lbs so far, however Keepers say she is much larger than her past pregnancies, she is only about halfway through and she looks like she’s full-term!"
 
I'm a little surprised they even announced the pregnancy for Ngozi. In the past they have stayed quiet until nearly the end. I'm glad the zoo is finally taking risks and announcing pregnancies. Gives the public something to get reved up about.
 
Camel, Jamarcus, died.

Breeding has been observed between pygmy hippos Harvey and Kindia again. The clock to a pygmy hippo calf may have begun again. Clearly Harvey is good at making babies and Kindia is capable of conceiving quickly. Hopefully we will get the first surviving pygmy hippo calf by fall!

6 bison have arrived from somewhere in Quebec. I feel like Zoo Sauvage is the like candidate but the zoo loves exchanges with Parc Safari.

Seems like the zoo will be announcing the rhino calves names or a contest to name them tomorrow
 
I oopsied. Apparently I need to learn to read more carefully. For some stupid reason I read neutered as euthanized. Wow no clue how I got that so very wrong. Great he is alive! Just missing some special bits.

And help name the rhino calves. The white rhino calf will be Kwesi, Theodore or Matumaini. While the Indian rhino calf will be Kavi, Kiran or Genda. Help Us Name Our Baby Rhinos!. My gut says we will be looking at Kwesi and Kavi.
 
Those are some weak names for the GOH calf. Sucks they didn't suggest a "V" name for him.
 
I am more upset they didn't go for a V for big brother Nandu. He is the first born son of the first born son, Vishnu, of our first Indian rhino, Vinu. Nandu should have been the V named son. Now with the second born I don't care because they ruined a chance to build a naming tradition.
 
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