Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2022

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@ProjectGames, the male staying depends on a lot 15 or so years from now in the orang population. His genetics are extremely strong so he likely will be pretty valuable then. By then Sekali will no longer be breeding. Who knows if Budi and Kembali will be alive (males being more prone to earlier deaths) and how many babies they will have had. Plus any other births and deaths from Puppe, Molek, Dinding and Abigail's lines impact his value.

Then there is what the zoos group looks like by then. What did Ramai have? Did Sekali have a third and if so what gender is it? How are Ramai and Sekali doing health wise? Is Budi still here? We know Jingga and Kembali should be gone by then but still so many questions. If Ramai and Sekali produce girls then baby boy is leaving. We would likely keep his sisters as the future breeding females. We could end up with no more babies too. Lets say Ramai just doesnt have a baby and they waste yet another breeding cycle for Sekali, he could be all we have. In that case once Sekali is too old there is zero point in keeping Budi. Let him go breed and wait on baby boy to mature and get a new female for him eventually. 15 years down the road leaves way too many questions to even be able to really guess.
 
Orang, Sekali and her baby boy, will go on display for the first time today. They will have access to the exhibit until approximately noon depending on her preference. Hope one of you is lucky enough to be there and stumble across them.
 
Interesting addition to the zoo @Kalvin. Last the keepers had spoken about plans to replace dwarf croc Monty, they had a male who was due to arrive in the next few months. Now that was over a year ago and we have never had confirmation he arrived. Wonder if we are going with a male and 2 females with more hope that Brenda will breed since Cleo is older or if the male fell through and we now just went for two females to help fill the exhibit. I would think if anything happened to Cleo the zoo would have announced it as she is a long time resident. But then again someone mentioned the croc exhibit was empty. This is why I miss daily Facebook Lives.
 
Cleo is still around, but I'm not sure whether both crocs are rotating or sharing the exhibit, this is all second hand information.
 
Guess you will have to go again Kalvin to clear up the mystery. Such a hardship. Lol. I have a friend who might be able to dig up some info about it for us.
 
The zoo has decided orang Sekali and her baby will be on display Monday and Friday mornings from 9am until 12pm for those looking to meet the little one for the first time.
 
Nice that a schedule has formed, better for Sekali and baby. I do think that with Covid Cases they do want to risk anything, on top of that the babu does not yet have the vaccine, according to a keeper I heard from last weekend.
 
Some sad news from the TZ, Bailey, their 15 year old cougar and currently the last of his species at the zoo, passed away last week. This winter was apparently especially difficult for him at his advanced age and after noticing his bad days had begun to well outweigh his good ones the vet staff made the tough decision. He will be missed
 
Oh, I just saw him on April 10th, I thought he was recovered b/c his behavior was normal at that time but unfortunately he still left us. When will the zoo bring in new cougars approximately?
 
@StellarChaser, not that I have any inside knowledge, but it wouldn't surprise me if the zoo remains without Cougars for some time. We may not see Cougars return until the Domain moves to the future site of Wilderness North. The Domain is outdated and slated to eventually be closed to the public. So why fill old semi rundown exhibits with new animals. Going without Cougars for a few years also decreases expenses that come with having them.

I'd love to see a new pair, but I don't expect it anytime soon.
 
I agree with @cypher, I do think there is a good chance we will be without the cougars for awhile. They seem to be bent on emptying the domain right now which seems crazy because they definitely are not getting to the new Wilderness North any time soon. Probably a good 5 or more years down the road minimum. However the source of cougars in North America is always rescued orphans. All it would take is the AZA reaching out to its members with a litter of cubs needing placement and the zoo might decide to jump at the opportunity. The cubs would be a massive draw to the domain so it might be worth it. This summer will be telling. Either the zoo will try to get some orphans this summer or they will leave the exhibit empty or go with a lame replacement like more coons.
 
My crackpot theory is that the Domain is gonna close well before Wilderness North opens, everything that isn't a bison is either being phased out or getting super old so a lot of stuff down there doesn't have much longer, and they only have a few years before they have to contend with it being not up to code anymore. I think once the moose sisters and grizzlies go they'll close the whole thing, keep the bison off-exhibit for a few years and move the raccoons to somewhere in the Kids Zoo.
 
@hyena142, that's not a crackpot theory in the least. It's what the evidence is showing us. The hill will be illegal sometime in 2025. Spending money to fix that when they have no plans to use the domain in the future doesn't make sense for a money strapped zoo. They haven't filled the old wolf exhibit for years. Just temporary housing for the male lynx and the short term stay of our former red fox. They phased out the lynx and replaced with raccoons... elderly raccoons. The raccoon exhibit is empty not that thats a bad thing, its a concrete pit. Down to one bald eagle, 2 old moose, 2 old grizzlies, possibly still one extremely elderly elk, and the bison. The fact the zoo said they were unsure if or when they would get new cougars is telling. Plus they never tried to replace the red fox who went on the run and I am sure they could have got one from the MNR.
 
I agree with @cypher, I do think there is a good chance we will be without the cougars for awhile. They seem to be bent on emptying the domain right now which seems crazy because they definitely are not getting to the new Wilderness North any time soon. Probably a good 5 or more years down the road minimum. However the source of cougars in North America is always rescued orphans. All it would take is the AZA reaching out to its members with a litter of cubs needing placement and the zoo might decide to jump at the opportunity. The cubs would be a massive draw to the domain so it might be worth it. This summer will be telling. Either the zoo will try to get some orphans this summer or they will leave the exhibit empty or go with a lame replacement like more coons.
Hello from the states. Take heart there is currently one female cougar found being helped out right now at the Oakland Zoo. They named her ROSE. She's gaining weight and her eyes are looking clearer, and gaining her little cougar aggression. Keep pulse on it. There is hope, for ROSE will not be able to return to the wild and will have to live in captivity.
 
@junglejim Rose sounds like she'd be a good fit for Toronto but unfortunately I don't think she'll be coming our way, for one transfers over the border have been a nightmare ever since the pandemic hit, we have several animals that were slated to leave in 2020 still with us just because it's so difficult getting stuff across right now, so I can't imagine they'll move mountains for a non-breeding animal just so they can fill an empty exhibit. Plus the current cougar exhibit is in an extremely remote area of the zoo that's slated to be closed within the next 5 to 10 years, we'll likely get a new exhibit for them after that but for now I wouldn't be surprised if they just went without the species until then.
 
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In a recent twitter post the zoo announced that the cheetah cubs will make its public debut to the exhibit somewhere towards late May, as the weather is warming up.
 
The zoo announced that last year they successfully bred the crocodile newts. Apparently over a hundred metamorphized and while most went to another Canadian facility some stuck around the zoo. Really seems a shame there isn't the space in the pavilion that they couldn't have been on display so people had a chance to watch the incredible transformation. Instead a cool learning opportunity was lost as they were reared behind scenes. At least they posted a video of it on Facebook. Could have been interesting to do weekly mini videos of them as they grew and changed so people could follow along on the journey.
 
The zoo announced that last year they successfully bred the crocodile newts. Apparently over a hundred metamorphized and while most went to another Canadian facility some stuck around the zoo. Really seems a shame there isn't the space in the pavilion that they couldn't have been on display so people had a chance to watch the incredible transformation. Instead a cool learning opportunity was lost as they were reared behind scenes. At least they posted a video of it on Facebook. Could have been interesting to do weekly mini videos of them as they grew and changed so people could follow along on the journey.
Another zoological missed opportunity right in one's hands. Especially in media madness opportunities unfolding everywhere it seems. Well so much of chirping importance of conservation then.
 
In a new twitter post the zoo showed some footage of the new orangutan baby, and he has met his dad, Budi. Looks like a great interaction between the two and I hope that Sekali and them can go on exhibit some day.
 
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