Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2022

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Well thats monumentally disappointing that Penelope isn't leaving. Like @Hyak_II its surprising considering she can go with any male. Perhaps they cannot send her because they are concerned whatever killed Silas could be caught by her since she was due to arrive any time now. They might not want to risk one of the most valuable pygmies in North America. Really unfortunate not just because its stalls a calf for next year but the zoo will have to redo all the paper work to move her south when they pick another home.
 
Very unfortunate surprising news from the TZ today, Baby Spice the young red panda didn't survive. The keepers found him suddenly sick yesterday morning and he didn't make it through the day. His name was supposed to be Dash.
 
Oh man that sucks Dash didnt make it. Name on none of our radars. Just heart breaking for keepers who got to know him and he was so close to being viewable to the public who would have delighted in him. If there is one upside to it, at least it happened now and they have time to let Paprika mourn and come back into season this winter so we can try again for cubs due next spring or summer. We now know Paprika can breed and that is huge! And Suva is a two time sire so Adira wasnt just a fluke.
 
The Zoo announced the passing of White-handed Gibbon Holly today.

"We are saddened to announce the passing of Holly, a 50-year-old white handed gibbon.

Holly lived at the Toronto Zoo for the past 43 years, most of which was spent with her long-time mate, Lenny. Holly was a big personality in a tiny body. She was known for her loud voice and for always carrying around a stuffed toy, or, in recent years, a squeaker toy. Holly enjoyed crickets and mealworms which she would gather and place on her stuffed toy to eat. She always made her keepers work to earn and keep her trust, even those she knew the best.

The Zoo opened almost half a century ago, and few animals from that time are still alive today. Holly was one of these senior citizens, along with Charles, Puppe, and Jonah. These special animals have outlived their wild counterparts by decades. The life expectancy for white-handed gibbons is about 30 years in the wild and in human care, they often live to be 40+. At 50, Holly was one of the oldest gibbons in North America.

This past Sunday, Wildlife Care staff noticed Holly had an injured thumb, and she was sent for x-rays to determine the extent of the injury. Unexpectedly, the x-rays showed she also had arm fractures – despite the keen eye of her keepers, she had masked these injuries from them. There was no conflict with Hoot or any other incident observed that might have led to these injuries, so we are unable to confirm what caused them. It is possible that, as a very elderly gibbon, Holly had a condition such as low bone density that could have played a role in her bones being brittle. Given her advanced age, complicated condition, and challenging recovery, our team made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her.

We are so grateful that Holly was able to spend the last few months of her life bonding with Hoot; her last few weeks were spent hugging and grooming her new friend and we find comfort in knowing she was not alone. Keepers will closely monitor Hoot as he adjusts and ensure that he has lots of attention and enrichment to keep him occupied.

Holly will be deeply missed and the Indo-Malaya Pavilion will not be the same without Holly's lively presence and big voice. Read more at the link in our bio."

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Not Holly no!!! Well I kinda figured she didn't have long left after Lenny passed but I was hoping Hoot's arrival bought her a bit of extra time. This one really hurts, she's been with the zoo longer than pretty much any other animal besides our last two opening day animals Puppe and Charles. I'll certainly miss seeing her swinging around her exhibit and watching her adoring fans at the glass from up high in that big fake tree.

Now the real question is what happens to the gibbons in the future. Hoot can't be solo forever so it all depends on if we can find a suitable partner for him. If we can't we might end up having to send him away
 
@Hyena Puppe is the last opening day animal. Charles arrived just over a month after the zoo opened. He is the second last 1974 animal.

Poor Holly. She will be missed. Just wont seem the same to pass by the exhibit and not see her or Lenny. She was there every visit from the first visit for me. I grew up under her eyes. At least her last weeks were spent with Hoot for a companion, another gibbon she seemed to truly enjoy. He provided her with happy days until the end.

Hoot is interesting. He's never bred and an older middle aged gibbon. He's not likely to secure us a real mate. Just another gibbon needing a friend. I wonder if he could be shifted to another zoo so we could get a shot at a breeding pair. The zoo has produced just 3 babies and didnt fair that well. The first died at birth, the second Peter Loren died a week after birth and the third Senin only made it to 21 months old. Senin was originally planned to be Lenny's mate after her father Derek died just months after her birth and her mom Priscilla was sent away when she was just 17 months old. If not for her unfortunate early demise we never would have had Holly.
 
Prehensile tailed porcupine, Nicole, passed away at age 18. She had bone degeneration and given her age and poor prognosis she was put down. And with her passing yet another species disappears from the zoo.
 
Aw no poor Nicole! Well she lived a great long life. I'm gonna miss having prehensile-tailed porcs at the zoo.
 
The veterinary care team has made the decision to euthanize 20-year old Alpaca Botan, after a host of dental issues slowly lead to a decline in his appetite and health.
 
Jenna the Black-footed Ferret is passed, now a new individual called Buzz is in the exhibit for display.

Feel sad that only seeing news about the Zoo losing animals, is there any news that the Zoo will bring in new animals?
 
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The zoo hasn't announced any new incoming animals in awhile but incoming animals I know are coming or should be coming if all goes as planned...

1.0 giraffe - Nabo from Calgary (Kiko will swap with him)
1.0 kudu - very possible in the next year.
2.1 river otters - Fiddle and Fraser from Calgary and Flash from Roger Williams
0.1 jaguar - Lua or Estrela from Granby Im not sure which one
0.1 komodo - from Disney though given Kilat's age and increasing arthritis they may not bother.
 
Aww that's unfortunate but they were both very very old. Sad I never got to see either of them awake one last time. Fred was spotlighted on the zoo's Twitter not too long ago, nice he got one last moment in the sun before his passing.

So with that African otters are officially phased out of the TZ and the beavers have joined the cougars as a species that we probably won't get back until Wilderness North opens, whenever that may be. Sorry to see those species go. I wonder if the plan to turn the African otter exhibit into an open-concept fountain for the ibises and spoonbills is still on the table?
 
Poor Fred and Ward.

Fred was the oldest living African spotted necked otter so his time was coming. Real pity because that is a species I highly doubt will ever come back to the zoo. The population is just too small and the are the species of otter the AZA seems to have the most trouble breeding. His passing though does free up that aviary for redevelopment and possibly new species. I wouldnt be sad if the ibises and spoonbills relocated there. It would free up a sizable exhibit for something possibly cooler.

As for Ward we knew after his sister June passed it was a matter of time. I do agree I dont think the beavers will be back any time soon. Getting new beavers would be easy. Their SSP is decent but also Zoo Sauvage (the birth place of June and Ward) has litters yearly. However I know for a fact that the zoo has 3 river otters on the way. They are picking up brothers Fraser and Fiddle from Calgary and a female Flash from Roger Williams. They are our potential breeders as Talise is now too old (true shame she was a potential founder). I thought it was rather early to request more otters for the zoo since they havent even broken ground on the new entrance but this seems like it is their temporary plan. Get the otters while they can and house them in the beaver exhibit.

This has been a bad year for phase outs.
 
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