Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo- Births, Deaths, Arrivals and Departures 2013

TZFan said:
why dont we ever seem to breed our otters?
Click to expand...

The biggest barrier in breeding right now is due to the genders of our otters (two female river otters, one male african spotted-necked otter)

We have had (very limited) breeding success in the past. River otters "Ben" and "Bright Eyes" had one pup in 1982 (dns) and 2 in 1984 where just 0.1 "Buttercup" survived. She went to live in Sault Ste. Marie when she was a year old, and died in 1993. The Spotted necked otters had a pup in 1988 (they arrived in 1987) but the baby died after a month or so.
 
Thanks so much Zoogoer for the answer. I knew we were just down to Fred but i thought we had a male river otter and I know I was wrong now. But the point remains if we havent got them to breed since the 80s or 90s maybe its time to either try again with new animals or if they have been leaving nature to take its course maybe take a second look at what they might be able to improve. Otters are so delightful to watch, babies would bring in people big time. It would be so cool if when the south american section finally gets some loving renos that they work on bringing in Giant otters too. Might really draw people towards that area.

If memory serves me correctly Arcticwolf the zoomobile usually starts back up in May. I just dont remember if they wait until the long weekend. I dont think so but I could be wrong.
 
TZFan said:
Thanks so much Zoogoer for the answer. I knew we were just down to Fred but i thought we had a male river otter and I know I was wrong now. But the point remains if we havent got them to breed since the 80s or 90s maybe its time to either try again with new animals or if they have been leaving nature to take its course maybe take a second look at what they might be able to improve. Otters are so delightful to watch, babies would bring in people big time. It would be so cool if when the south american section finally gets some loving renos that they work on bringing in Giant otters too. Might really draw people towards that area.

If memory serves me correctly Arcticwolf the zoomobile usually starts back up in May. I just dont remember if they wait until the long weekend. I dont think so but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Ok, I guess I'll find out about the zoomobile tomorrow.
I'm guessing the zoo is going to phase out the spotted necked otters and the river otters probably won't breed until they get a new exhibit in the Canadian Wilderness area. I agree with you that giant otters would be a great species for the zoo to get once they start work on the tropical Americas section. Another option could be small clawed otters which could be mixed with the orangutans, gibbons, babirusas, or tapirs. Maybe they could even go in the old tomistoma exhibit.
 
Thats the other kind of otter I forgot about. I knew I left out sea otters because realistically where would we put them and have them make sense. It is sad though they are phasing out the Africans. I love watching them. Always have. They are part of one of my oldest memories of the zoo. THems swimming, Charles hand against mine on the glass and looking down at a pygmy hippo with a calf in what seemed like a tiny exhibit. Otters are always a delight so why get rid of them? Though their exhibit has always seemed rather crummy to me. Maybe we will get lucky and they are just waiting for Fred to go before ripping out the exhibit and evaluating whether a new better otter exhibit could fit in that space.
 
Re. phasing out spotted-necked otters - I had heard some whisperings that there were plans to source a female companion for Fred (non-breeding, as far as I know), but I haven't heard much more on it. There aren't many individuals in the North American population, so that can make acquisitions all the more challenging (for many reasons)

Re. Asian small clawed otters - this species has been discussed as options for an orang/otter or gibbon/otter mix, but after how things went with the babirusa/gibbon mix... I wouldn't imagine much else will be tried (for now, with the current gibbons anyways). The other issue is creating a suitable holding area for otters, as modifications/additions would most likely be necessary to accommodate them. Hopefully someday! They are quite interesting animals and would be awesome additions...
 
Zoogoer2000 said:
Re. phasing out spotted-necked otters - I had heard some whisperings that there were plans to source a female companion for Fred (Non-breeding, as far as I know), but I haven't heard much more on it

Re. Asian small clawed otters - this species has been discussed as options for an orang/otter or gibbon/otter mix, but after how things went with the babirusa/gibbon mix... I wouldn't imagine much else will be tried (for now, with the current gibbons anyways). The other issue is creating a suitable holding area for otters, as modifications/additions would most likely be necessary to accommodate them. Hopefully someday! They are quite interesting animals and would be awesome additions...
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a good idea to get more spotted necked otters. The exhibit is way too small for them. One idea I can think of is to switch them and the soft shell turtle. It has a decent sized exhibit which seems really underused.
 
When I first saw Dotti there i thought it was a huge waste of space too. Dotti isnt that cool and if I had to make the call I'd say so long Dotti in favour of keeping otters. The down side is that as the exhibit sits right now it lacks the underwater viewing that otters really need to be cool. And since they recently remodelled that area I dont think they would do anything big like adding the underwater viewing. Shame though. Your right its a good sized exhibit space that could really be better used by darn near anything. Could the otters and Dotti live together?
 
TZFan said:
When I first saw Dotti there i thought it was a huge waste of space too. Dotti isnt that cool and if I had to make the call I'd say so long Dotti in favour of keeping otters. The down side is that as the exhibit sits right now it lacks the underwater viewing that otters really need to be cool. And since they recently remodelled that area I dont think they would do anything big like adding the underwater viewing. Shame though. Your right its a good sized exhibit space that could really be better used by darn near anything. Could the otters and Dotti live together?
Click to expand...

I've never heard of otters and turtles sharing an exhibit. Isn't it better to have otters in a good exhibit with no underwater viewing than a poor exhibit with it. I do agree though that otters are more popular when visitors can watch them swim. If the otters don't move to the turtle exhibit, how about the dwarf crocodiles? The otters would move to the crocodile exhibit which is slightly larger than their current one and it would have underwater viewing. I've never seen the crocodiles actually use their pool so it would be nice to have a species that would.
 
arcticwolf said:
Thanks!
Does anyone know if the drive through eurasian paddocks are open yet? If they are, I'll go on the zoomobile tomorrow. (I might end up going anyways since I'm going to the zoo with my 5 year old brother who loves rides)
Click to expand...

The zoomobile is running and driving through the exhibits in Eurasia.
 
I had a great time at the zoo today! I saw lots of animals that I haven't seen for a while and I got some great pictures. Here are my updates (they may have been posted here before but I don't remember seeing them):

- the wrinkled hornbill was not in its exhibit in the malayan woods pavilion, instead there was a male fireback pheasant
- giant katydids were in the exhibit that had an asian huntsman spider the last time I visited
- I got a great view of the tentacled snakes in their exhibit which was a nice treat
- there was a clutch of veiled chameleon eggs in the chameleon nursery
- for the first time I saw the wattled crane in its exhibit
- the lake malawi cichlids tank was blocked off, I'm not sure why
- helmeted guinea fowl are now on exhibit with the grevy's zebras, marabou storks, and egyptian geese
- there was a wild turkey in the outdoor white faced saki exhibit
- I saw the black footed ferret and two toed sloth move for the first time
- many of the invertebrate exhibits in the americas pavilion were empty
- giant land snails were in the old lubber grasshopper exhibit in the americas
- there were adorable baby bunnies in the kid's discovery zone
- the highlight of the day for me was in the marsupial/monotreme exhibit in australasia: the echidna was actually active and doing laps around its exhibit and I saw a brush tailed bettong for the first time since the edge of night closed

Pictures are coming soon!
 
I just posted a lot of exhibit and animal photos in the Toronto Zoo gallery. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the giant panda exhibit because it was too far away. I'll make sure to get some pictures of the new exhibit when I go to the zoo again on Friday for the panda preview.
 
Thanks for the updates Arcticwolf. I hope the chameleon eggs hatch before we get there in June so the kids can enjoy them. Your photos were great. Cool that we have a bettong again. Always nice to add species.

I look forward to seeing your photos of the pandas next week.

Glad you had a good time there yesterday.
 
TZFan said:
Thanks for the updates Arcticwolf. I hope the chameleon eggs hatch before we get there in June so the kids can enjoy them. Your photos were great. Cool that we have a bettong again. Always nice to add species.

I look forward to seeing your photos of the pandas next week.

Glad you had a good time there yesterday.
Click to expand...

The chameleon eggs that Arcticwolf refers to are not real. They have been there since last summer (with the incubator off). With that being said, there is a relatively young chameleon on display in the nursery and there are likely eggs or younger hatchlings off-display. Also, the bettongs are not new. The 2 females have been around for a while now, but seem to hide in the exhibit.
 
adams7 said:
The chameleon eggs that Arcticwolf refers to are not real. They have been there since last summer (with the incubator off). With that being said, there is a relatively young chameleon on display in the nursery and there are likely eggs or younger hatchlings off-display. Also, the bettongs are not new. The 2 females have been around for a while now, but seem to hide in the exhibit.
Click to expand...

That's odd. Why would the zoo keep fake chameleon eggs in the nursery? Also, why wouldn't the zoo put a sign up saying the eggs were fake? I'm sure that a lot of other people thought the chameleon eggs were real.
I didn't see the bettong until the echidna stopped right in front of it and it moved its head.
 
arcticwolf said:
That's odd. Why would the zoo keep fake chameleon eggs in the nursery? Also, why wouldn't the zoo put a sign up saying the eggs were fake? I'm sure that a lot of other people thought the chameleon eggs were real.
I didn't see the bettong until the echidna stopped right in front of it and it moved its head.
Click to expand...

It is to show people what the eggs would look like and how the zoo incubates them. There are also fake eggs in the dwarf crocodile exhibit that everyone believes are real (for a moment at least).
 
adams7 said:
It is to show people what the eggs would look like and how the zoo incubates them. There are also fake eggs in the dwarf crocodile exhibit that everyone believes are real (for a moment at least).
Click to expand...

I knew about the crocodile eggs but not about the chameleon eggs.
According to the zoo's website, there will be no more elephant keeper talks so the zookeepers can have more time to train the elephants for their move. They are also not on exhibit as often because they are inside their barn training.
Also, there was a sign up in the Malayan Woods Pavilion stating that the zoo's last clouded leopard is very old and has health problems. Are there still plans to bring in more when the current female passes away? If not, what will go in her exhibit?
 
arcticwolf said:
Also, there was a sign up in the Malayan Woods Pavilion stating that the zoo's last clouded leopard is very old and has health problems. Are there still plans to bring in more when the current female passes away? If not, what will go in her exhibit?
Click to expand...

"Merriweather" (or "Merri" as she is affectionately called) will be 20 this year (born in 1993 at Buffalo Zoo, hand reared, and then arrived in 1994 with sisters "Flora" and Fauna"). Over the past year, she has become much more weak and wobbly, but she is still eating and getting around alright.

There are probably several options for the future of that exhibit. Off the top of my head... fishing cat, clouded leopard and binturong would probably all work well. With some modification... asian small clawed otter would probably even be a viable option. We'll just have to wait and see!

FYI, what most people don't realize is the size-able amount of holding area that is provided with this exhibit. There are two separate holding areas (one on either side of the exhibit), along with an outdoor off-exhibit yard adjacent to the less visible of the two holdings (on the left if you're coming from "the jungle area")
 
Hopefully they pick something that wont need much in terms of modification which would keep funds free for other projects until that area of the zoo comes due for a total redo then they can rip down that tired looking building an build something bigger and better with room for all of your cool suggestions of replacemements.
 
TZFan said:
Hopefully they pick something that wont need much in terms of modification which would keep funds free for other projects until that area of the zoo comes due for a total redo then they can rip down that tired looking building an build something bigger and better with room for all of your cool suggestions of replacemements.
Click to expand...

Rip it down?!? In my opinion, Malayan Woods Pavilion is one of the best exhibits/pavilions in the entire zoo! It provides a fairly immersive experience, and although it could use a little revamp (e.g. a brush up of the aviaries, some refurbishment in the mammal exhibit), it is still in very good shape!

After Eurasia, the next big priority will probably be Canadian Domain. The exhibits/holdings are definitely showing their age, and things need to be moved up onto the main tableland.
 
Zoogoer2000 said:
Rip it down?!? In my opinion, Malayan Woods Pavilion is one of the best exhibits/pavilions in the entire zoo! It provides a fairly immersive experience, and although it could use a little revamp (e.g. a brush up of the aviaries, some refurbishment in the mammal exhibit), it is still in very good shape!

After Eurasia, the next big priority will probably be Canadian Domain. The exhibits/holdings are definitely showing their age, and things need to be moved up onto the main tableland.
Click to expand...

I love the Malayan Woods Pavilion too. It's just a little weird that they have two pavilions that feature animals from southeast Asia. The only change I would like to see are more small animal exhibits and better viewing for the aviaries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top