Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo- Births, Deaths, Arrivals and Departures 2014

Well Im glad you enjoyed your first shift. Do you know when you go again? Just wondering how far out they give you notice of your next shift.
 
Another thing I forgot to mention about my trip, was that the zoomobile is up and running again. I wanted to go for a ride to get some shots of the roaming Eurasia animals, but there was a medical emergency stopping the zoomobiles from moving.
 
today at the zoo:

Bettongs - both male and female are back in the Tree Kangaroo enclosure. She has been making nests in the grass but nothing has happened yet - saw her in the far right corner but couldn't find him.

Geese - a Canada Goose chased me out of the Wetlands with wings up, head down, and beak open - must have been a nest nearby. There was a pair of Mallards on one of the ponds but no frogs or tadpoles yet, although I didn't have long to look!

Arctic Fox - there are two new ones! Presumably female, although the only people I could find to ask about them were volunteers who didn't know they were there, so they were probably very recent arrivals. I know both are new because last week the sole male had started to change colour across his back as usual but these were very white.

Polar Bears - Humphrey, 5 months, was getting some training in putting his paws up on the fence on request, accompanied by a lot of loud squawks. All three adults were out, together.

Lion-tailed Macaques - wasn't sure how many we have or where they live so asked - there are three groups. M and 2F in their main exhibit; a MF pair lives in the Malayan Woods holdings and outdoor area; a MF pair live in the Health Centre.

Pekin Robins - a bird travel box was in their enclosure - oh oh - asked and found they are being replaced by a younger pair, in hopes of breeding them. Peter Karsten, the Canadian who has been successfully breeding Pekin Robins and wrote a book about it is the supplier and is taking the current pair.
 
Mr Wrinkly said:
today at the zoo:

Bettongs - both male and female are back in the Tree Kangaroo enclosure. She has been making nests in the grass but nothing has happened yet - saw her in the far right corner but couldn't find him.

Geese - a Canada Goose chased me out of the Wetlands with wings up, head down, and beak open - must have been a nest nearby. There was a pair of Mallards on one of the ponds but no frogs or tadpoles yet, although I didn't have long to look!

Arctic Fox - there are two new ones! Presumably female, although the only people I could find to ask about them were volunteers who didn't know they were there, so they were probably very recent arrivals. I know both are new because last week the sole male had started to change colour across his back as usual but these were very white.

Polar Bears - Humphrey, 5 months, was getting some training in putting his paws up on the fence on request, accompanied by a lot of loud squawks. All three adults were out, together.

Lion-tailed Macaques - wasn't sure how many we have or where they live so asked - there are three groups. M and 2F in their main exhibit; a MF pair lives in the Malayan Woods holdings and outdoor area; a MF pair live in the Health Centre.

Pekin Robins - a bird travel box was in their enclosure - oh oh - asked and found they are being replaced by a younger pair, in hopes of breeding them. Peter Karsten, the Canadian who has been successfully breeding Pekin Robins and wrote a book about it is the supplier and is taking the current pair.
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I'm glad to hear about the new foxes and robins. If the new foxes are female, are there plans to breed them with the male? I'd love to see baby foxes, but I don't know if there is enough room in the exhibit for them.

I'm glad that both bettongs are back on exhibit. Hopefully they'll breed soon!

That's a pretty funny story about the goose. It's too bad you didn't have as much time in the wetlands as you wanted to.
 
You have to assume the female foxes are for breeding. Their "house" with the outdoor area and maybe use of the area on the other side of the house should be enough for a while when they breed. Do you know if they have ever had kits at tundra Trek? not in my memory. Next time I will stick around for the Polar bear talk to get some info. about the foxes.
 
I guess if the foxes can have access to the wolf holding yard, there would be room for babies. A keeper told me that yard is hardly used by the wolves.

As far as I know the zoo has never bred arctic foxes.
 
The wolf holding is only used if they need to catch up a wolf for some medical reason. They also use it for Snow Geese with young because the mothers fight with each other.
I was thinking of the area immediately beside the Arctic Fox house - maybe I am mixed up about the layout but isn't there a small yard there?
 
Sounds like you had a great day, even if you were chased by geese. I've had the unfortunate experience of being bitten by one (I was 4) and it wasn't fun. They can be nasty birds. You might want to report being chased to the zoo so they can see if there is a nest and remove it if its too close to the paths. Wouldn't want someone else, especially a kid to get hurt by a startled, protective parent.

I'm sort of surprised you didn't see frogs. I only say that because over Easter I was at my parents place, which still has a good amount of snow, and we could hear tons of frogs croaking away at night. They weren't as loud as later in the spring and all summer but it was a good number. We were all surprised since there's still snow and the lakes are just starting to melt. From everyones photos it doesn't look like you have had snow in Toronto for awhile. Maybe if the goose hadn't attacked so soon you would have spotted some.

Whether or not the bettongs breed, and I hope they do, its good that they have adjusted to each other and can live peacefully together. Sounds like they are easier to spot in the tree kangaroo exhibit.

Did you hear anything about the progress on the tree kangaroos breeding?

I'm excited to hear there are more arctic foxes. I'm a little surprised its two foxes though. They usually live in pairs with kits so additional adults is odd, unless Cody will be left on his own and the new animals are a potential breeding pair. I'm interested to hear what you find out about them on your next visit Mr. Wrinkly. And I also dont remember there ever being fox kits. It would be great to see them.

If I had to make educated guesses about which macaques are in which places, I can safely say Karl is with Screamer and probably Si Nikel are in the exhibit. Due to their young ages I would guess Guntur and Vina are in the Malayan Woods simply so they can have more space and fun. In the health unit that would leave Dave and Sitara. It's a shame the only inbred animals we have are Karl and Screamer, a well represented male and older female who has never bred. Si Nikel is the result of a mother son pairing (Sita and Rama). Dave and Sitara are the result of a father/brother daughter/sister pairing (Rama and Si Nikel). And Guntur and Vina are the offspring of an inbred mother (Si Nikel). Unfortunately that means we cant ship any of them out to bring in new unrelated animals to kickstart breeding again because who wants inbred animals.

It's nice we are getting new breeding age robins.

Did you hear anything about the incoming clouded leopards? I assume if you had you would have mentioned it.
 
Oh according to facebook the baby gorilla has started to venture away from Ngozi. I'm looking forward to the great photos of her everyone will start to share now that she might be more visible.
 
Charles will be naming the baby gorilla Apr 30th at 10 am for those of you who can make it. Oh for a webcam.
 
It would be a wise idea to do just that. Look at how popular the videos of Humphrey are. Charles picking the name would be fairly popular as well.
 
Indeed, seeing a silverback choose a name for his daughter? It screams precious. People would love to see that.
 
TZFan said:
Sounds like you had a great day, even if you were chased by geese. I've had the unfortunate experience of being bitten by one (I was 4) and it wasn't fun. They can be nasty birds. You might want to report being chased to the zoo so they can see if there is a nest and remove it if its too close to the paths. Wouldn't want someone else, especially a kid to get hurt by a startled, protective parent. Reported

I'm sort of surprised you didn't see frogs. I only say that because over Easter I was at my parents place, which still has a good amount of snow, and we could hear tons of frogs croaking away at night. They weren't as loud as later in the spring and all summer but it was a good number. We were all surprised since there's still snow and the lakes are just starting to melt. From everyones photos it doesn't look like you have had snow in Toronto for awhile. Maybe if the goose hadn't attacked so soon you would have spotted some. We had snow on the ground on the 14th and I don't think since. On the 17th it seemed the ice had recently gone from the wetlands ponds - the surfaces were scummy.

Whether or not the bettongs breed, and I hope they do, its good that they have adjusted to each other and can live peacefully together. Sounds like they are easier to spot in the tree kangaroo exhibit.

Did you hear anything about the progress on the tree kangaroos breeding? Didn't have a chance to ask.

I'm excited to hear there are more arctic foxes. I'm a little surprised its two foxes though. They usually live in pairs with kits so additional adults is odd, unless Cody will be left on his own and the new animals are a potential breeding pair. I'm interested to hear what you find out about them on your next visit Mr. Wrinkly. And I also dont remember there ever being fox kits. It would be great to see them. Maybe a pair after all.

If I had to make educated guesses about which macaques are in which places, I can safely say Karl is with Screamer and probably Si Nikel are in the exhibit. Due to their young ages I would guess Guntur and Vina are in the Malayan Woods simply so they can have more space and fun. In the health unit that would leave Dave and Sitara. It's a shame the only inbred animals we have are Karl and Screamer, a well represented male and older female who has never bred. Si Nikel is the result of a mother son pairing (Sita and Rama). Dave and Sitara are the result of a father/brother daughter/sister pairing (Rama and Si Nikel). And Guntur and Vina are the offspring of an inbred mother (Si Nikel). Unfortunately that means we cant ship any of them out to bring in new unrelated animals to kickstart breeding again because who wants inbred animals.

It's nice we are getting new breeding age robins.

Did you hear anything about the incoming clouded leopards? I assume if you had you would have mentioned it. ]

Now I have a list of at least ten things to check next time, which probably won't be until the week of the 5th.
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So kind of you to report the geese for the safety of other Mr. Wrinkly. Most wouldn't think of it either because they don't know the zoo does manage them for vistor safety or it just doesn't occur to them. The geese might have a different opinion though but tough luck to them.

I look forward to see what you learn on your next trip.
 
Very interesting. I bet the search for sperm started in the US and when it became obvious that would be insane, heck we have trouble getting a whole animal across forget fluid, they had to turn to this option. Hopefully the potential fathers are proven themselves.

I am a little surprised they didnt knock Da Mao himself out to try and get sperm from him prior to breeding season just to check and see if he was mature enough and to also bank viable sperm for AI if necessary. The US zoos do collections at the time of breeding if mating doesnt occur and also banks some.

I like out pandas but part of me wishes China had sent us a pair that was just a little older and already mature and fully ready for their first breeding. Maybe a pair of 7 year olds in 2013.

Fingers crosses for a 2014 cub.
 
Hmm no news from the zoo on the gorilla naming today. Probably put it off so that news of the pandas wouldn't overshadow the naming. If they didnt name her yet they can get the good press out of it in a couple of days... maybe next week... and stay in people minds longer.
 
The article about the pandas said that artificial insemination only works 60% of the time. Hopefully everything will work out and we'll see a baby panda soon.
 
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