Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2020

TZFan

TZFan

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
New year so time for a new thread on what we can expect in terms of animal changes coming in the next 12 months.

Transfers
Some of the transfers are rock solid plans. Other transfers are just possible ones I have heard about and could change. I'm sure some transfers will be known about while I think there will be some pleasant surprises in there for people.

Notable Departures
Sumatran Tiger - Kemala (no home is selected but she is available for placement so could be moved to a non AZA zoo)
Snow Leopard - Mylo to John Ball and Kita to Leon
Kookaburra - Karee to Palm Beach
Spotted otter - Lila to Omaha
Indian Rhino - Kiran to White Oaks
Crested Porcupine - there are discussions to replace the species nothing definite so its just a possibility.
Zebra - Rey to the Bronx
Polar Bear - Hudson and Humphrey to Aquarium Du Quebec
Hamerkop - younger male is up for placement
Green-naped Pheasant Pigeon - 1 female to Omaha and 1 male to Toledo
Lynx - Hamilton is up for adoption
Black footed ferret - 1 male and 1 female to National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center
Violaceous Turaco - male is up for adoption however the female is to stay. Probably because the male is super aggressive.
White-cheeked Turaco - breeding pair to Jacksonville
Penguin - Wolfgang, Penelope, Lafawndun, Paco, and Sharptooth to West Edmonton Mall

Notable Arrivals
Sumatran Tiger - Nisha from Jacksonville to breed with Hari
Snow leopard - Pemba from Calgary to breed with Ena
Spotted otter - female from Little Rock
Kookaburra - female from Palm Beach
Walrus - Arnaliaq (possibly pregnant) and Lakina from Aquarium Du Quebec
Polar Bear - Taiga and possible cubs from Cochrane
Giraffe - Zoey from Cincinnati to eventually breed with Kiko but she is only two years old.
Spoonbill - male from Cameron Park
3 chuckwallas from Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum all yet to be gendered
Hamerkop - they are trying to get a female
2 Pygmy Marmoset - Male from Beardsley and female from Shedd Aquarium
Turquoise Tanager - female from San Antonio
Black footed ferret - 6 females and 7 males from National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center
White-cheeked Turaco - 2 females from Jacksonville
Penguin - males Skadu, Yeti, Rocket, Neo and Charlie from West Edmonton Mall and females Sechelt, Saltspring and Hope from Vancouver Aquarium.

2020 Breeding Potential
Breeding could be pretty good this year. We know there will be the standards which are part of the conservation programs, and the usual suspects will probably have babies again too. The only big baby we know for a fact is coming is the giraffe calf and if that's all I get I'd be pretty happy since this is a huge legacy baby dating back to its great grandparents who were there opening day. There is decent potential for a great baby year if some of the pairing expected produce this spring. Could also be a boring year. Who knows.

Impending babies
Giraffe
Black footed ferret
Blandings Turtles
Vancouver Island marmots
Loggerhead Shrikes
Massassauga Rattlesnakes
Trumpeter Swans (the zoos swans actually belong to the SSP)
Southern Ground Hornbill - chirps have been heard but not yet confirmed

Highly likely babies
White Rhino - Sabi or Zohari (less likely)
Penguin - up to 4 chicks with the usual 2 pairs breeding and possibly more once repairing begins when the new penguins arrive but those would be late 2020 chicks.
Kudu- Ramostia, Rosalita and Ruby
Golden Lion Tamarin - potentially 2 pregnancies in the year.
Saki - breeding has been observed
Cheetah - Laini and Emarah
Bison - with six young females being added 2 years ago its very likely there will be several
Kangaroo
Amur Tiger - new pairing
Green Naped pheasant pigeon
Luzon Bleeding-heart Dove
Przewalski’s Horse - Winona and Winnie with Dudley and breeding has begun

Possible babies
Indian Rhino
Wolf - with 10 pups in 2 years they may take a break
River Otter - the zoo refuses to follow recommendations to separate them most of the year to increase breeding potential.
Common Marmoset
Scarlet Ibis
Black Crake
African Spoonbill - second male being added should increase odds.
Sacred Ibis
Scarlet Ibis - 2 pairs
Walrus - only if Arnie arrives pregnant but based on the focus on the maternal bond their research is to have it seems likely they anticipate a calf.
Red Panda - new pairing but the zoo has historically poor success
Pygmy hippo - if Penelope leaves maybe depending on space
Painted Terrapin
Madagascar Spider Tortoises
Grey-capped Emerald Dove
Green-naped Pheasant Pigeon
Golden-breasted Starling
Stellar's Sea Eagle - both are finally mature
Sunbittern
Bactrian Camel - Tilly is most likely as she is the oldest of the girls. Zip is probably old enough now.

Low likelihood babies
Zebra - they have been paired but given the length of pregnancy 2021 is more likely.
Flamingos - we have 7 recommended to breed but the last chick was 2008.
Crested Porcupine - recommended but zoo is considering replacing the species.
Marabou Stork - recommended but nothing happening for years now.
Orang - I hold no grand hopes. A whole breeding cycle has been wasted for both Ramai and Sekali at this point waiting for them to take interest in immature Budi.
Wombat - I’m losing hope
Bennett’s Wallaby - given the ages likelihood is lower but possible.
Chuckwalla - they are elderly but genetically valuable
Wattled Crane - they don't even have Cedric and Curly Rita in the same exhibit.
Jamacian boa

Only if transfers happen
Snow leopard - new male Pemba arrives
Hyena - Moja and Pinduli leave
Kookaburra - female swap, all chicks produced are to be females.
Sumatran - new female arrives and Kemala leaves
Pygmy Marmoset - pair arrives
Turquoise Tanager - female arrives

Obviously if other transfers happen more pairing could happen. I just listed the ones I know should happen plus my constant belief that its time to get rid of Moja and Pinduli so we can breed such genetically valuable animals such as Echo and Kanzi. If I could pick two more moves I would like a new female for komodo Kilat and a new male tree kangaroo for Puzzle. I just don't think those are likely.

Can we get a 2020 as great in babies as 2017 with the 2 snow leopards, 2 clouded leopards, 5 cheetahs, 4 penguins and a white rhino? I think it's possible with a giraffe calf leading the way. Add in some cheetahs, more penguins, otters and long awaited red panda cubs and its probably pretty darn close. If an orang or walrus arrived with the giraffe calf and that was it, I'd still say it was as good because those are amazing babies.

Deaths
This one just cant be predicted. Hopefully as few as possible but the zoo does have quite a few older animals and reality is we will loose some of them. And there will be those who are younger but are too ill or injured to save. I'll just continue to hope that my favs survive for another year.

Based on what I know will and should be happening at the zoo this year just in terms of animal changes I think 2020 will be a good year. If the moves don't produce babies this year, many will set us up well for a good 2021.
 
A male mouflon was born March 22. Interesting. The zoo hasnt breed mouflon in forever. They were phasing them out. I wonder if it was a baby born to one of the moulfon females the zoo took in from that horrible zoo in Quebec?
 
It's a pity that Subira has passed. Dallas has had a rough year with losing first little Saambili's mom Hope and now her dad. Thankfully he still has 3 surviving full siblings to pass on mom Samantha's genetics. It's a shame though he's had a rough life in a few respects and he was finally enjoying the good life. Once he left Toronto he went to Granby to join Calgary's bachelor boys Nsabi (now dead), Jawara and Zwalani but they wouldnt accept him so he live in isolation for several years before being tapped for Dallas. Then once there he nearly died of colitis and pneumonia. He lost nearly 100 pounds and needed blood transfusions to save him. An just as he established a nice family group and was enjoying fatherhood he lost mate Hope and had to step up and keep an eye on his orphaned daughter. Now he had a rapid case of heart disease that claimed his life. Probably got it from Samantha. His death is a shocker. I expected the next death in from our family tree to be Charles, Josephine, Amanda or Jomo (he has a degenerative spinal condition). Heart disease among silverbacks is a real problem.
 
Watusi Bart died in January.

Ostrich Princess died in February.

Kangaroos - Bunbury died last fall and Meribah in February and heard this week that Swamp Wallaby Francesca, 14, has also died.

1.2 mouflon have been born (including the one mentioned above), all to Quebec mothers. I have heard that one of the mothers has died.
 
Update from the TZ Facebook page that Sally, the bactrian camel was euthanized :(
Below is their write up for Sally. I thought they still did camel rides because I'm sure I saw them last year or the year before...though below they state that Sally was the last of the camels to do the rides (I doubt they would've had her in the rides at 23/24 years old).

It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Sally, our eldest Bactrian camel, was humanely euthanized on May 5th, 2020 at 26.5 years old. Sally had been experiencing degenerative joint disease and arthritis due to her age , but was being managed with both medication and exercise over the past two years. Sadly, her quality of life began to deteriorate recently which led our Veterinary team to this difficult decision. Camels in Zoos have an average lifespan in the mid-20's.
She is survived by her daughter Jozy, sister Tilly, and the rest of our camel herd: Suria, Zip and Jamarcus. Sally was the last of the camels that participated in camel rides at our Zoo, and made a lasting impact on countless visitors. Sally was loved by all who knew and worked with her. She may have slowed down in her old age, but she sure maintained her sassy attitude.
 
The Bactrians hadn't done camel rides in years. The camels you are thinking of are the dromedaries they used to borrow from Bowmanville every spring. I'm not sure when the switch from the Bactrians to the Dromedaries began. The zoo now only holds Bactrians.
 
Arctic Wolves - pups have emerged from their den!
A picture I saw looks like 6 or 7.
 
Not only are there pups there was a death in the wolf pack. According to facebook Dora and Vera got into a vicious fight and Vera sustained injuries severe enough that she was put down. Dora was also treated for injuries and quickly returned to the pack. The pups are a mix of Dora and Vera's pups. Dora has moved Vera's pups from Vera's den to her own following Vera's death. While is terrible Vera has passed at least Dora has spared the pups and is caring for them along with her own.
 
Some wonderful news! Mstari & Kiko have finally welcomed their calf, a third generation birth at Toronto Zoo. Hope everything continues to go well for this little one. The Toronto Zoo
 
After all of the recent deaths the birth of this calf makes me so happy. Not that the wolf pups are not cool. This calf though really excites me because it is a fabulous legacy animal at the zoo. It is the 4th generation of its line to live at the zoo. Great granddad Cecil was the zoos first giraffe arriving in 1974. Twiga is the grandmother and was the sole calf of her mother Heidi who was a European import which is why mom Mstari and uncle Shomari (now renamed Michael) are the most genetically valuable male and female in North America. This little one has a lot of history behind it. If the calf is female it will one day go to Calgary to breed with Nabo. If its male its future will likely be in the states.

It is such a relief to see Mstari loving the baby. I really worried about her as a first time mom who is a very skittish giraffe. I kind of wondered if she would have the baby and it would scare her and then she would reject it which is natural for many first time mothers (looking at you Aurora and the two litters you ate). Just great to see she's as kind and attentive a mother as Twiga was before her. Fun fact for those who don't know but Twiga was a hand reared baby. Her mother died days after birth and Twiga had to be bottle fed to survive. She was a little fighter. Hand rearing giraffe calves is very difficult.

Now that we have a healthy calf hopefully things open back up at the border and we an continue to build our giraffe herd and see Zoey arrive this fall before she gets too big to bring up. Then next time Mstari is ready to calf we can have two babies to watch frolic at the same time. I know I'm already 2 years down the path but come on that will be so much fun to see. It's been ages since the zoo was able to have multiple calves.
 
A girl is excellent news!

Placement of the calf is a long way off. With the giraffe herd in Calgary the future of that herd is up in the air. First off they have Carrie who is now an elderly Reticulated. Then they have Moshi who is a retic/masai hybred, so virtually worthless because she cannot contribute to either SSP. Nabo and Emarah are the Masai but Emarah has difficulty bringing a calf to term and if she does is has a genetic defect. The question the SSP would want to answer first is which of the parents is the problem. Emarah has a track record with previous males so I would think her. Nabo does have Moshi who is healthy but maybe he is part of the problem. They will have to look hard at that herd before they make a final decision but it would be best to swap female calves up here just because its easy.
 
Where did Nabo originally come from? Also how does his genetic value compared to Kikos?
 
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