Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Births, Deaths and Transfers 2023

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According to the Greater Vancouver Zoo Thread, Tika the Cheetah has been sent back. Toronto loaned her but I guess the loan was up? I'm sure more info will come out as she settles back into her former home.
 
Tika being 12 years old, might be back so they can provide the best care or her in her days. She's definitely on the upper end and Toronto is well versed in caring for elderly cheetahs.
 
12 year old raccoon, Micro, has a new friend, 6 year old Marco. Macro was a rescued illegal pet and has been at the zoo for 6 months in the health unit getting his weight under control. The boys are getting along well now that they are together and both are on display. For those trying to tell them apart, Macro is bigger and his top fangs seem to stick out all the time.
 
Love the name joke if Macro had weight problems. So now that we have another raccoon a potential move to the Kids Zoo for Macro (and Micro as well if he lives that long) after the Domain closes is back on the table. God knows there's more than enough free exhibits in there for them.
 
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The 11 Vancouver Island Marmot pups born this spring have departed for the Tony Barret Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre on Vancouver Island where they will winter before release in the spring.

Matching them are the 11 black footed ferret kits born this year. 9 of the kits are heading for the Ferret Conservation Centre in Colorado. Some will be released and some will join the breeding program there. Two of the females, Madison and Seal, will remain to join our program.
 
Jaguar Luca unfortunately passed away this week. He reached the ripe old age of 19, and died surrounded by his beloved keepers and the Wildlife Health team after suddenly losing function in his back legs. He was without a doubt the friendliest jaguar we've ever had at the zoo, and will be missed.

This means Toronto is now without jaguars, however there are plans to bring in a new pair and hopefully successfully breed the species for the first time in the zoo's history.
 
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No @hyena142, there are plans to bring in a female jaguar from Granby but there are currently no plans to bring in a male to join her. She is extremely valuable so hopefully the SSP will give us a male ASAP but our exhibit is deemed too small for breeding. If next summer we can toss the flamingos back into their own exhibit then we can convert the spider monkey exhibit and maybe get a breeding recommendation. Maybe. Lets not count our chickens before they hatch.
 
Ah right forgot about that. In any case I have to imagine that breeding is the end goal here, especially if the female is a valuable one. Plus we know the zoo wants to expand the exhibit, I don't think they'd spend all that money on an expansion for any reason beyond breeding when the current exhibit is satisfactory if a bit small.
 
The question about the expansion is when are they gonna tackle it. It was supposed to be a 2 phase project. I dont think they have plans to do it really soon or they wouldnt have picked up the second capybara. Just wait Diego out. The flamingos could be moved to another space easily but the capybara looks to be on phase out so letting an older capybara just pass would be the smart move. Only time will tell what will happen.
 
Was at the zoo a month or so ago - why are the flamingos there? Bird flu or something similar?
Or not wanting to clip flight feathers?(given that some/many may be pinioned in any case).
 
@TZFan They can move the capybaras to the Kids Zoo again, they don't necessarily need to phase them out when the time comes to reno the temple

@Tim Brown Yeah the flamingos in there because of avian flu, their usual exhibit is frequented by ducks that might spread the disease to them and we definitely don't want that. Hopefully next year they'll be able to go back to their usual exhibit
 
@hyena142, sure they could move the capybaras back to the kids zoo again but I dont think the zoo was really happy to have them there when Diego and Pablo were there. It wasnt a good space for them. It was good enough. I dont think Dolf would want them there again unless its totally necessary.
 
The zoo has released an announcement concerning upcoming transfers set to happen in the coming months.

White-handed gibbon Hoot will be going to Assiniboine Park to join their gibbon family. His expected departure date is sometime in the week of October 23. With his departure Toronto will be without gibbons for the first time since opening, however in the post about his departure the zoo announced they have plans to welcome a new gibbon family sometime in the future, so this isn't goodbye forever for the species.

Amur tiger Vasili will also be leaving us for the Calgary Zoo to be paired with a female from Europe. He will likely be departing in early November, so for any Vasili fans out there there's still time to catch him on one last visit. The zoo didn't announce plans to acquire a new male so I imagine the current plan is to just wait out Mazy and then get a new pair when the time comes.

As for arrivals, the zoo has officially announced the return of cheetah Tika from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and the arrival of a 2 year old female Grevy's zebra from the Edmonton Valley Zoo. No dates were given for these arrivals but I believe Tika's already here, just not on exhibit yet.
 
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The moves are interesting.

I think we all wondered what would happen with Hoot once Holly passed.

Vasili leaving is interesting. His full brother Samkha is currently there with Samra. Apparently those two are on the move and Vasili will replace his brother. I guess Vasili is the better bet since he is a proven breeder and Samkha is not. Where the Calgary pair is heading is a mystery. I really feel like something must have changed from the original plans since the zoo was all about building the third Amur habitat and now we will be down to just Mazy. Maybe we are the ones getting saddled with Samkha and Samra. Lets hope not.

Not sure why we have geriatric Tika back but maybe we can give her a level of care Vancouver could not.

Our new Grevy is Maizy and she is to breed with Jake. Hopefully it means that in 2025 we can have two foals running around the exhibit again!!! If she arrived I do wonder if the zoo hasnt told us Poe and Obi have departed for St. Louis or will be soon. Without them going the zoo would have the same problem they had before not enough room for foals. Thats just swapping Rey out for Maizy. Although now we have the wildebeest pen empty so that might help.
 
I had a feeling Hoot was a temporary player that came to us so Holly could have a pal in her final days and then he'd move on. He ultimately was only here for about a year and two months. It's nice he's moving on to a place where he'll have more friends, I wish him all the best. Now what I am surprised about is that this isn't the end for the gibbon program, the prevailing theory was that they'd get phased out so the zoo could use their space for the upcoming indoor orang redo, but them saying they want a gibbon family rather than a gibbon pair makes me feel that won't be the case and we'll get to keep the species. With how many primates we're losing I'd be happy for them to stick around.

Vasili was probably never gonna breed here again, at least not for a long while. It's probably for the best they found a spot for him where he'll be put to good use as a proven sire.

We have a lot of space for cheetahs, Tika's probably here so she can spend the rest of her life relaxing off-exhibit.

We know Jake is in the ostrich exhibit since the ostriches aren't using it right now and there's room in the barn with the wildebeest gone, so there's that. I have to imagine Obi and Poe have either left or are very close to it now that we have Maizy incoming, we didn't learn about Rey's departure until I stumbled upon a random Toronto zebra article that didn't include her over a year later so it's not out of the question for zebras to leave without saying goodbye. Plus Obi and Poe were never popular considering they were only on exhibit for one summer each, it's not like they'd need a bunch of fanfare for their departure when your average guest probably doesn't even remember them.
 
WOW!! some real transfers all at once.

Hoot leaving I really can't say I'm surprised I never felt that connection and once Holly died and everything they didn't even introduce him to Bucky which kinda gave me the feeling he wasn't gonna stick around. But if we are planning on getting a family i'm all for that!!

Vasili leaving is kinda sad because I got to meet him the first morning he was let out and he was roaring and chuffing and really making his presence known. I do fear we will get stuck with Sarma and Samkha.

Shame that Tika had to leave Vancouver since she was a real fan favourite there but it's likely for the better of her health since she is geriatric.

Haha I predicted that we would be Maizy's future home ever since her little bro was born. They probably don't have the space and we do. I can't wait for her to begin her bredding journey. Two foals from her and Tori is gonna be great. Fingers crossed.

Lots of transfers happening around Canada with Calgary getting polar bears I hope that that goes well and helps out our bears in the future. Any one hear a word on Kiko's transfers or has that pretty much been cancelled? shame it's taking long since Mstari could've had calf number 3 by now or soon.
 
@Akula, Mstari should if the zoo follows its usual pattern be bred late this fall. But without Nabo isnt here and it doesnt seem like he will be any time soon. So that begs the question will the SSP give the green light for another Kiko baby or will they take year off breeding and hope to breed both Mstari and Amani next fall if they can get Nabo here. Your guess is as good as mine.
 
TZFan said:
@Akula, Mstari should if the zoo follows its usual pattern be bred late this fall. But without Nabo isnt here and it doesnt seem like he will be any time soon. So that begs the question will the SSP give the green light for another Kiko baby or will they take year off breeding and hope to breed both Mstari and Amani next fall if they can get Nabo here. Your guess is as good as mine.
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That's kinda the question I have been asking the keepers when I go but they have no clue. In terms of time that'll mean if we do get Nabo then he'll breed amani first, then wait probably a year or two before mstari can go again. But I think that having a calf every other year isn't bad since it adds to a more diverse herd in terms of age as well it'll be cool to see the herds heights as they grow. So I personally think that they should let Kiko and Mstari have baby number 3 anyways since Mstari is quite genetically valuable.
 
hyena142 said:
The zoo has released an announcement concerning upcoming transfers set to happen in the coming months.

White-handed gibbon Hoot will be going to Assiniboine Park to join their gibbon family. His expected departure date is sometime in the week of October 23. With his departure Toronto will be without gibbons for the first time since opening, however in the post about his departure the zoo announced they have plans to welcome a new gibbon family sometime in the future, so this isn't goodbye forever for the species.

Amur tiger Vasili will also be leaving us for the Calgary Zoo to be paired with a female from Europe. He will likely be departing in early November, so for any Vasili fans out there there's still time to catch him on one last visit. The zoo didn't announce plans to acquire a new male so I imagine the current plan is to just wait out Mazy and then get a new pair when the time comes.

As for arrivals, the zoo has officially announced the return of cheetah Tika from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and the arrival of a 2 year old female Grevy's zebra from the Edmonton Valley Zoo. No dates were given for these arrivals but I believe Tika's already here, just not on exhibit yet.
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It is sad that Vasili need to leave. I thought he would breed again. Hope there will be a zebra
foal next year.

Akula said:
That's kinda the question I have been asking the keepers when I go but they have no clue. In terms of time that'll mean if we do get Nabo then he'll breed amani first, then wait probably a year or two before mstari can go again. But I think that having a calf every other year isn't bad since it adds to a more diverse herd in terms of age as well it'll be cool to see the herds heights as they grow. So I personally think that they should let Kiko and Mstari have baby number 3 anyways since Mstari is quite genetically valuable.
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I hope there will be another baby with Kiko and Mstari
 
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