Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths, and Transfers, 2019

Watching for TZFan's annual summary of possible births, I finally realized it was at the end of the 2018 thread. I am sure TZFan won't mind that I have copied that post here (corrected the Clouded Leopard name):

Births

I know of no current pregnancies at the moment but there are some sure thing births that we can almost always expect. There have also been some moves which should increase the odds of births as well as some moves that should be coming that will open up breeding opportunities.

Most likely

Blandings Turtles
Vancouver Island Marmots
Black Footed Ferrets - several new pairings are coming following some transfers
Eastern Loggerheaded Shrikes
Massassagua Rattlesnakes
Bison
Tur - there's always a chance

Higher odds

Zebra - if already pregnant
Red River Hog - they are finally mating
Cheetah - only if most if not all of the quints leave this winter or should be leaving to homes soon.
Southern Ground Hornbill - despite 6 chicks they are a genetically valuable pair.
Giraffe - if pregnant but odds are now higher Mstari will be pregnant sometime this year.
Bleeding Heart Dove
River Otter - RJ and Talise did enjoy each other a lot last winter.
Common Marmoset - Why they are breeding them still baffles me.They should be phased out.
Golden Lion Tamarin
Sunbittern
Plush Crested Jay
Grey Kangaroo - new breeding male
Pygmy Marmoset - pending arrival and bonding

Longer shots

Indian rhino - based on Kiran's conception Asha could be pregnant or get pregnant with #3
White rhino - Sabi has been bred to Tom but no word
Orang - just don't think Budi is mature enough to get the job done
Marabou Stork - not sure why this genetically valuable pair isn't being bred
African Penguin - some would need to go to free up space
Bactrian Camel - Ziggy is still a little young but Tilly is old enough, plus long pregnancy.
Przewalski's Horse - only if breeding began almost immediately after arrival.
Red Panda - SSP doesn't think Ralphie will breed given his age
Wolf - Unlikely given the 6 pups are still there but possible.
Wombat - So long and nothing.
Tree Kangaroo - Unlikely given the upcoming transfer but still possible.
African Spoonbill - dont seem interested in breeding them
Sacred Ibis - see above
Various Asian turtles and tortoises
Babirusa - nothing seems to be happening there

No Longer Possible

Just thought I would add in a category of the species we know are now out of the running.
Sumatran Tiger - Kemala has been deemed a non breeder
Clouded Leopard - Mingma and Pavarti are a genetically undesirable pairing, cousins, duh SSP.
Lions - Makali is spayed like Lemon now.
Sloth - Bob's dead but they were really a long shot.
Ostrich - Orville's dead
Komodo - pending arrival of a new female
Sea Eagle - An egg was laid last year but it was eaten by a coon so no idea if it was fertile. They are still young.
Crested Porcupine - genetically valuable pairing but the zoo is considering getting a different species for that exhibit hence the long shot.

Transfers In

Female Tree Kangaroo
Female Komodo
Male Kudu
Male Black footed ferrets
Male Scarlet Ibis
Ostrich - I would think they will try to get Eunice company
Male Snow Leopard - coming in from Metro Richmond and breeding will begin again.
Meerkats - some sort of breeding swap
Pgymy Marmosets - Breeding pair arriving

Transfers Out

Tree Kangaroo - Nokopo
Various cheetah
Zebra - Leia and Rey should go
Indian Rhino - Nandu (might wait til late fall and move both boys together)
White Rhino - With Tom as a proven sire there is no real need for Tony so its possible to free up space for Teddy.
6 Penguins - Edmonton is supposed to take a group
Polar bears - hopefully homes are found for Hudson and Humphrey
Wolf pups
Clouded Leopard - rumor has it Safari Niagra is working on a clouded leopard exhibit so Levy would be perfect
Snow leopards - homes have been chosen for Mylo and Kita
Meerkats - to facilitate breeding
Bettongs
Bleeding heart doves - any chicks
Eagle Owl - Edgar they want out of Eagle owls
Warthog - if breeding is wanted the boys would have to go
Hyena - I keep hoping Echo will not be wasted and Moja and Pinduli will leave!!!!!!!!! That or the SSP will smarten up and take Kanzi away from Toronto so she's not wasted.

It will be interesting to see if there is a big birth this year with none expected at the moment to my knowledge. It might be a really quiet year after three or four really big ones.
 
Sacred Ibis did have a birth a few months ago, a noisy, continually squawking chick.

I have heard the Babirusa are not being bred; don't know why.

The breeding male Bactrian is Zip.
 
Don't mind at all that you reposted and while doing so corrected my goof with the clouded leopard. I really need to stop working from what I think is memory and double check. So much useless information rolling around in my head I'm muddling some of the easy things.

Oh cool I didn't know there had been an ibis chick. Really good thing. Most of the flock is pretty genetically valuable. Maybe more chicks will follow.

While I would love to see some big ticket babies this year it would be neat so see some rarer births like the ibis get some attention. I think this years babies to watch for would be otter pups and red river hoglets but a fun one to watch would be a marabou stork chick. Facebook could follow it's development.

I forgot another recommended breeding with several chick possibilities, flamingos. We have some pretty desirable bloodlines at the moment. I just don't ever recall seeing flamingo chicks so I wonder if they aren't interested or if Canadian winters maybe prevent it.
 
Female reticulated python, Fifi, has begun laying eggs. 15 have been laid to date but more could come. The zoo is currently reaching out to other zoos to see how many, if any, zoos are interested in the babies. They will artificially incubate only what is needed.
 
Actually a female komodo has been selected. She was picked before Kiki even passed. Just the fine details would have to be worked out. They had determined awhile ago Kiki was never going to be a breeder so there was no point wasting Kilat's genetics on her any longer. Kiki was heading south of the border and a new female was due up. Those plans could have changed or been halted for any number of reasons. Perhaps even Kiki's death may have changed the timeline until they confirm its safe to bring a new animal in.
 
Not sure if this is related to the special temporary exhibit mentioned in the Developments thread but I was at the zoo today and there is new signage posted for a Fiji Banded Iguana.
It's in the Australasia pavilion where the Monkey Tailed Skink was and looks like the exhibit is still being prepared.
The Skink and the frogs have been moved to where the a White Lipped Python, then Blue Tongued Skink and finally Red Tailed Green Rat Snake was.
If anyone knows where the Iguana is coming from I'd be interested to know.
 
I'm not sure Fiji Banded Iguanas are the big thing but any change in that pavilion now makes me increasingly suspicious something is coming there.

I don't know where the Iguanas are coming from but I do know its another fairly rare species for the zoo. As of 2016 there were just 53 in 17 AZA zoos. Based on sheer numbers I would say the most likely places for them to come from is San Diego or the National Zoo. They have the largest breeding populations and thus far the only ones who have been successful as of that time but other zoos and private collections could also be the source.
 
Red River Hog, Tisa, has given birth to two hoglets. Finally Philip got the job done. This is a pretty big success for the zoo because Philip and former mate Casey were great pals but neither was interested in breeding with the other. Then when Tisa came they had positive signs but some renos behind scenes resulted in a move to the health unit until work was done. When they moved back they hated each other. It's taken some work to get Tisa and Philip back on track but seems like the keepers have done a great job and now we can enjoy two little hoglets!.
 
TZFan said:
Red River Hog, Tisa, has given birth to two hoglets. Finally Philip got the job done. This is a pretty big success for the zoo because Philip and former mate Casey were great pals but neither was interested in breeding with the other. Then when Tisa came they had positive signs but some renos behind scenes resulted in a move to the health unit until work was done. When they moved back they hated each other. It's taken some work to get Tisa and Philip back on track but seems like the keepers have done a great job and now we can enjoy two little hoglets!.
Click to expand...
Neat! Can't wait until they, along with the new zebra foal, are on display!
 
Sad news Concave-casqued hornbill, Asha, was put down. She was 51 and you only saw here while out with keepers due to the fact she was blind. In the zoo's obituary for her they mentioned she was actually blinded by our male Jonah while breeding. She ended up with brain damage which resulted in vision loss. Answers a lot of questions I had. Why was she blind? I assumed age. Why is Jonah not allowed a mate? He's known for being aggressive but I didnt think he had hurt her.
 
Very sad to hear - she was everyone's favourite because she was quite tame and an affectionate character who loved to be petted. It is only the last few years she was completely off-exhibit - she was often where Henry the Wrinkled Hornbill is now and he only moved there after she stopped using that enclosure.

I am surprised TZFan did not know how she became blind. It has always been quite commonly known, but I realize you don't get there very often and don't have much chance to talk to people.
 
Honestly I don't think I ever even saw Aasha in person. You know me Mr Wrinkly I'm a mammal lover and I like the birds but don't invest much in them and forget the rest. I look at them but the history and stories I know are almost exclusively mammal. Nice to know I can still surprise you!

I also didn't know red river hog was really Sir Philip Pigglesworth III. I actually feel like he's related to past river hogs because of that. But I did spend a good chunk of time chuckling reading red river hog names in the studbook so could be just a memory of another name.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top