Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2023

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Nooo not Samson I love Samson! That really sucks, he was always worth the trip down the hill to the Domain and you could tell he was a very special bear with how much the keepers adored him. They posted a really nice goodbye video for him on their socials, as well as a video of a funeral they held for him. I'm really gonna miss the big guy even though I only saw him once or twice a year. Poor Shintay is all alone now, hope she's doing okay without her life partner.

So now with him gone the Domain is down to 3 raccoons, 1 bald eagle, 1 grizzly and 2 moose along with the bison herd. As much as the Domain bugs me it feels kinda bittersweet watching it finally come to an end since it likely only has a year or two of operation left, it definitely is the end of an era.
 
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Oh that sucks, especially for Shintay. They have been together since she arrived as a cub. He is only a year or so older than her.

We assume there are two moose. No way to know for certain as they are off display. They are both at that age were one or could go at any time. Moose are not long lived animals. The zoo is clearly on a phase out of the domain critters (minus the bison) which kinda makes sense since I dont think the zoo has plans to fix the hill before the accessibility laws become an issue. I think they will just close it permanently at that point and let natural attrition continue on all but the bison since opening the Canadian Wilderness I dont think is on the books any time soon.
 
It turns out Samson isn't the only loss to come to the Domain over the winter as raccoons Fergus and Elora have also passed. Micro is still around but he's solo now.

We also seem to have one more bald eagle than we thought we did, as the zoo's Facebook post from today mentions two, Arya and Wambli.

So now the Domain is officially down to 1 elderly raccoon, 2 bald eagles, 1 elderly grizzly, potentially 2 moose but it's not looking good for them considering they're entering their second year off exhibit, they were already getting up there in years and they don't live long, and the bison herd/bachelor herd. The Domain has to close by the end of 2025 but with the non-bison animals going as fast as they are I have to wonder if it'll happen sooner than that.
 
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@hyena142, we knew there were still 2 bald eagles. I cant recall which but one was part of outreach while the other lived in the domain. Looks like after retirement they put both together in the domain which is great because its so much more space for the outreach eagle.

Yikes the domain is not really worth it anymore. We could loose the remaining raccoon Micro, grizzly Shintay, and either moose Lilly or Trilly at any time given their advanced ages. The eagles are both older too I just dont know how hold but I think female Wambli was in Zoo Diaries so that would put her over 20 years old. Arya arrived later so not sure how old she is but I think shes in her teens at least.
 
I always forget the outreach animals

I think I'll do it at least one last time if only to take some pictures just in case it ends up being my last but it really isn't worth it outside of that. The cougars are gone, both the raccoons and the grizzlies are down to one and in both cases it's the one that prefers their privacy, and the moose are going into Year 2 of construction. At least the bison and eagles are always cool.
 
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If you do go down the cursed hill one last time to take photos try to take some really good exhibit shots to post. It will be something cool to look back on when the Wilderness opens eventually and we can see just how much of an upgrade it truly was.
 
This has been a rough week for the TZ, we have another death announcement. Talise the North American otter has passed away at 13. That means RJ is solo now and is likely why they've started work on getting some new faces in that exhibit.
 
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Wow spring is not being kind to the zoo! Real pity Talise and RJ never had a litter. She would have been a founder. Reality was they were getting the new otter group because Talise was older and RJ isnt that far behind in age. Good thing is Fiddles and Fraser are most likely arriving in the coming weeks. They are old enough to come in from Calgary. We are no longer supposed to get female Flash from Roger Williams but they are looking for a better fit for the boys.
 
Man oh man, that's quite a bit deaths. Samson hits hard. I loved that Grizzly Bear.
 
I have 8 deaths recorded for the year so far. And we got 4 of them in the last 2 days. April looks to be a rough month. I suspect there was a 9th death but no one has heard any word on the disappearance of spectacled owl Spencer (well that I know of). I also know we had 2 sunbitterns die sometime last fall or early this winter but not so sure of the date so I cant count them.

Besides Spencer I do wonder about Southern Ground Hornbill, Biko. My reasoning? When they have posted about the newest chick they mention mom Catelyn and brothers Drogo and Gilly taking care of the chick. They haven't mentioned dad Biko taking part and they usually do. Could just be a goof but its just weird. Hopefully he is fine because Catelyn and he are founders with a fantastic record with 8 surviving chicks since they started breeding. They have been wildly successful as a pair.
 
Such a shame I couldn't see Samson one last time. I will be visiting the zoo on thursday, so I will be doing that terrible hill for the last time for memory lane.
 
A third straw coloured fruit bat was born several weeks ago. Hand reared Jesse will be slowly introduced to the two younger bats in the next few weeks as he transitions to the colony.
 
I read in a 2020 document that the white lions are on phase out, along with the baboons. Any idea if this is still true? I don't see any of mention of the lions in the new master plan. We know the river hippos are also on phase out. Why does it feel like they are wiping Africa of all the big amazing animals everyone loved
 
Yes, White Lions are to be phased out, but that doesn't mean they be sent away. Chance are they'll phase out by passing away naturally. The zoo is looking to go back to Tawny Lions, which they'd bring in when they feel the timing is right.

The Baboons, not so sure about. The zoo plans on replacing them, preferable with another primate. But how that all goes down remains to be seen.

The Hippos I believe comes done to being too costly. To refurbish everything for the Hippos would be more expansive than getting rid of them and replacing the exhibit with I believe the Pygmy Hippos.
 
80% of the time phase outs in Toronto means they will maintain the population until the last one dies of old age or something they cant fix. Right now the species on that slow phase out plan include but are not limited to...

Himalayan tahr
Great hornbill
Crested porcupine
Naked mole rats
White lions (to be replaced by normal tawnies)
Olive baboons (Hamadryas are the most likely replacement to align with the AZA)
Watusi
White headed vulture (only one other in North America so odds are low he would be replaced)
Grizzly bear (doesnt look like we will get replacements in the Wilderness)
Capybara
Domestic yak
Barbary sheep
Mouflon
Barbary ape
Lion tailed macaque

The rest they look for transfer opportunities like with the...

Indian rhino
Red billed blue magpie
Clouded leopard
Wrinkled hornbill
River hippo
Scarlet ibis
Sunbittern
Green Acarai (Possibly)

Others its hard to say what they will choose to do in the end when the last one dies...
Echidna (they say they want new ones but hard to get)
Wattled crane (Cedric isnt old, he isnt valuable, hes not been moved back to Africa)
Ring tailed lemurs (whole group isn't pedigreed so just being managed until they die off)
Wombat (hard to get replacements)
Komodo dragon (Kiliat is elderly and we have had a hard time replacing Kiki)
White handed gibbon
Two toed sloth
 
I suspected great pied hornbill will likely be replaced with rhinoceros hornbill when Jonah eventually passes away.

Also hot take, but for the baboons, I think the zoo should go for Allen’s swamp monkey and a second species of arboreal primate, most likely debrazzas, spot nosed gueon, or colobus.
 
I suspect when great hornbill Jonah passes they will use it as an avairy for some smaller birds until they get to the pavilion reno. I am not sure they will want to invest in any super long lived animal.

No way they will go for Allen's swamp monkeys. Firstly they would be misplaced in the savanna. They really belong in the rainforest pavilion. Plus there is no winter space for them so they need something winter hardy for over there and its a large exhibit. The swamp monkeys are small and would just disappear in an exhibit as massive as this one. I dont want Hamadryas baboons in there because I just dont want a baboon of any kind. It would be the easiest thing for the zoo to get. However that size of the exhibit can easily lend it to other species too. It could easily hold my personal choice, wild dogs, the holding would just need to be altered. There are lots of options for it. We could even move the hyenas over there and give them nearly double the space they currently have. We just have to wait out the baboons to find out what they will ultimately do. All that will depend on who is running things at the time and what is available.
 
@Akula, Zuri would also have been moved because she's reaching maturity soon and cant breed with her father Zip. At least there I think they have a male she can be paired with in a year or so.
 
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