Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo- Births, Deaths, Arrivals and Departures 2014
- Thread starter TZFan
- Start date
For those of you unaware the zoo has a new male hyena named Echo. He has been brought in from Parc Safari to give Pinduli a choice in mates like she would have in the wild to hopefully increase the odds of pregnancy. Echo should be considered the better breeding choice now. He was imported from a reserve in South Africa 4 years ago with two young females. He would be one of the most genetically if not the most genetically valuable male hyena in North America. I was sort of surprised Parc Safari gave him up... however he could be related to the females he was imported with which now that they are mature would be an issue. Now that Echo is on display its just a matter of time before he is introduced to Pinduli and Moja. Hopefully he will be more dominant that Moja and become Pinduli's choice of mate.
I would assume together. Hyena society is dominated by the females. The highest ranking male is still lowlier than the lowest ranking female. Moja and Echo will establish some sort of hierarchy and Pinduli will stay on top. It is common for male hyenas to join already established groups. There may be some squabbling at first as Echo joins the group but it will settle down. They may try introducing him to Pinduli first when she is in heat so she might be more accepting of him as a potential mate and once shes cool with him bring Moja in. It could take several weeks or months before all three are together. Fact is the next little while the hyena exhibit could be much more interesting than it usually is.
Went to the zoo today, since I’ll be busy on the weekend (sorry, ribfest and Guardians of the Galaxy take precedent). Overall, it was a pretty good day. Here’s what I noticed.
The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo was out in the open in the Australasia Pavilion. I haven’t seen it out since last fall, although that could just be me missing each time, which I doubt.
The Golden Lion Tamarin baby is becoming more independent, travelling throughout the exhibit by itself. It’s clear that it still has to get use to jumping and climbing around, as it’s still very much an amateur.
No signs of the Marmoset baby, as they were overly active, moving between in and outdoors. Keeper says it looks health on closer inspection.
Got to see the Black-Footed Ferret moving around as a keeper was feeding it. Once it was done eating, back to sleep it went.
The den viewing for the Beaver looks to have been thoroughly cleaned, hence the clear picture on the zoo’s facebook page a while ago. I was surprised to see it so clean. A little flash and you can get a decent picture.
I’ve come to learn that the Scarlet Macaw at the Mayan Ruins is not a Scarlet Macaw. It’s a Green-Winged Macaw. The sign at the enclosure says Scarlet Macaw, but the Macaw on exhibit is a Green-Winged Macaw. On the Website they list the Macaw as a Scarlet Macaw, but they are indeed showing a picture of a Scarlet Macaw, despite that Macaw not being on exhibit. Found that vexing.
Hyenas Echo (M) and Moja (M) have been introduced to each other, for the second time. A keeper was there to watch them and make sure everything was going okay, which they were. There was a bit of a scuffle early on, but they seemed to have made up and got along well, even grooming each other. Echo is clearly the bigger one of the two, despite him being around 4 years old and Moja being around 15 years old. The Keepers plan on keeping them together for a while, before introducing the female.
I was a bit surprised to see the lion boys Lindy and Jerroh out over the white lions. I think it would be fine, if they took down the old signs reading that the NEW White Lions have arrived. People are expecting to see White Lions, and they seem disappointed to see seemingly regular lions. Plus the White Lion have grown quite considerably from the pictures they have of them.
Decided to take a trip down to the Canadian Domain, hoping to get a glimpse of the Bison calves, but I had no luck. Bison and Elk were out in the far distance getting some shade. I did however get lucky to catch Grizzly Samson walking around the exhibit and eating some left over snacks. Shintay eventually got up to eat as well. Spent a good 30 minutes watching and taking pictures of them.
The new female Ostrich name is Eunice. Not sure if that’s the right spelling, but that is indeed the name. Got no other information aside from that, but maybe someone else can backtrack things with her name.
Przewalski’s Horse Phoenix (M) is still in with the females, as they are hoping for him to breed. For anyone that’s seen Phoenix recently, they may have noticed that marking on his neck, which read C36. Turns out that is to ID the fact that he has a desirable chromosome (36), which they want in his future offspring.
Lastly, found out the new baby yak’s gender and name. It’s a girl and her name is Summer Ray. For the most part, Summer Ray, Gemini and both mothers are still being held off exhibit.
The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo was out in the open in the Australasia Pavilion. I haven’t seen it out since last fall, although that could just be me missing each time, which I doubt.
The Golden Lion Tamarin baby is becoming more independent, travelling throughout the exhibit by itself. It’s clear that it still has to get use to jumping and climbing around, as it’s still very much an amateur.
No signs of the Marmoset baby, as they were overly active, moving between in and outdoors. Keeper says it looks health on closer inspection.
Got to see the Black-Footed Ferret moving around as a keeper was feeding it. Once it was done eating, back to sleep it went.
The den viewing for the Beaver looks to have been thoroughly cleaned, hence the clear picture on the zoo’s facebook page a while ago. I was surprised to see it so clean. A little flash and you can get a decent picture.
I’ve come to learn that the Scarlet Macaw at the Mayan Ruins is not a Scarlet Macaw. It’s a Green-Winged Macaw. The sign at the enclosure says Scarlet Macaw, but the Macaw on exhibit is a Green-Winged Macaw. On the Website they list the Macaw as a Scarlet Macaw, but they are indeed showing a picture of a Scarlet Macaw, despite that Macaw not being on exhibit. Found that vexing.
Hyenas Echo (M) and Moja (M) have been introduced to each other, for the second time. A keeper was there to watch them and make sure everything was going okay, which they were. There was a bit of a scuffle early on, but they seemed to have made up and got along well, even grooming each other. Echo is clearly the bigger one of the two, despite him being around 4 years old and Moja being around 15 years old. The Keepers plan on keeping them together for a while, before introducing the female.
I was a bit surprised to see the lion boys Lindy and Jerroh out over the white lions. I think it would be fine, if they took down the old signs reading that the NEW White Lions have arrived. People are expecting to see White Lions, and they seem disappointed to see seemingly regular lions. Plus the White Lion have grown quite considerably from the pictures they have of them.
Decided to take a trip down to the Canadian Domain, hoping to get a glimpse of the Bison calves, but I had no luck. Bison and Elk were out in the far distance getting some shade. I did however get lucky to catch Grizzly Samson walking around the exhibit and eating some left over snacks. Shintay eventually got up to eat as well. Spent a good 30 minutes watching and taking pictures of them.
The new female Ostrich name is Eunice. Not sure if that’s the right spelling, but that is indeed the name. Got no other information aside from that, but maybe someone else can backtrack things with her name.
Przewalski’s Horse Phoenix (M) is still in with the females, as they are hoping for him to breed. For anyone that’s seen Phoenix recently, they may have noticed that marking on his neck, which read C36. Turns out that is to ID the fact that he has a desirable chromosome (36), which they want in his future offspring.
Lastly, found out the new baby yak’s gender and name. It’s a girl and her name is Summer Ray. For the most part, Summer Ray, Gemini and both mothers are still being held off exhibit.
arcticwolf
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all of the updates cypher!
I agree with you about Guardians of the Galaxy! I'm seeing it in just over an hour. I will be volunteering at the zoo though on Sunday and I'll hopefully have a few hours to walk around when I'm done.
Cypher dont feel bad about not knowing the macaws. I thought the same thing until someone pointed it out to me last year. People just see the red and think scarlet macaw. I probably wouldnt notice if they swapped Blue throated for the Blue and golds. Its even harder when they leave the wrong signs up.
Nice to hear that the hyenas are doing well. I thought they would have gone for Pinduli first but maybe lower ranking Moja is better. Thanks for the tip on telling the boys apart. Size is a good way, especially if theres a sizeable difference. Next compare him to Pinduli.
You are right they could afford to get rid of the NEW White Lion signs. They have been here for 2 years. Time to take down the sign. They will probably leave it though until there are cubs and the need a new sign to pump them.
The new ostriches name is Eunice. I've heard that from several other people. She and Orville are very into each other apparently.
Where did you get the info on Phoenix?
Nice to hear that the hyenas are doing well. I thought they would have gone for Pinduli first but maybe lower ranking Moja is better. Thanks for the tip on telling the boys apart. Size is a good way, especially if theres a sizeable difference. Next compare him to Pinduli.
You are right they could afford to get rid of the NEW White Lion signs. They have been here for 2 years. Time to take down the sign. They will probably leave it though until there are cubs and the need a new sign to pump them.
The new ostriches name is Eunice. I've heard that from several other people. She and Orville are very into each other apparently.
Where did you get the info on Phoenix?
Being a comic book fan, I gotta see this movie. You gotta tell me how it is without giving any spoilers. Love the comic on these guys, and I was pleasantly surprised when Marvel choose them to do a movie on.
Hope you have another great time Volunteering at the zoo. What will you be doing?
The commentator was the one that mentioned the info on Phoenix. Apparently people have been asking.
Hmm... zoomobile commentator... I would caution against taking their info at face value this year. They seem to have tons of mistakes and misinformation going around. I would like to believe them but this seems to be a year where they are causing lots of controversy amongst us and are often proven to be wrong... the mouflons gender, possibly the yaks genders, their story about the monorail, Mr. Wrinkly has caught several big ones I cant remember them all. Maybe we are just all catching these goofs because we are so well informed or are just riding more because we all like the drive thru. Who knows. Im just more wary of what they say now. When it comes to Eurasian info I think I will choose to believe things when the info starts to come from keepers.
Big news! Guess who has a bigger playground now? Humphrey has officially been introduced to the pool yard!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Quqq92gDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Quqq92gDE
Megakillerwhale
Well-Known Member
Wow looks like it was friday since when we was there from Monday to Thursday he was still in his regular enclosure. Thanks for sharing 
Really awesome to see him exploring in the big pool
Really awesome to see him exploring in the big pool The video was posted on the Zoo's Facebook page at 8:50 am on Friday, which means that it was filmed earlier in the week. The Facebook post also states that Humphrey will have access to the big pool from 12:30-2:30 pm Sat-Mon, which means that they are rotating the bears through the exhibit, so he won't always be in the small yard. Humphrey's introduction to the large pool is quite a bit earlier than Hudson's, who was introduced sometime in September (11 months old?).
arcticwolf
Well-Known Member
Guardians of the galaxy was amazing! There were lots of great comic book and comic book movie references. Also make sure you stay for the end credits scene. If you love ALL Marvel characters, you will find it awesome.
Tomorrow at the zoo is fish day (or something like that) and I will be in the African Rainforest Pavilion helping people fill out ballots, guessing how many fish are in the Lake Malawi tank.
Awesome. I'll be seeing Guardians of the Galaxy tomorrow. I can't wait. I've been looking forward to this since it was announced. Oh, and I planned on staying for the end credits. It's a must do, with Marvel movies.
That Pavilion can get pretty exhausting do to the humidity. Make sure to bring water
I guess they finally finished adding fish to the exhibit. Last time I saw it, there wasn't much fish in it. Hope you have fun.
I want to guess how many fish there are... Lets see... something is appealing about the number 736. No rationale. Just a random guess based on the fact I hope they have filled it back up to its pre maintenance numbers. I would be shocked if I was even in the ball park. LOL.
arcticwolf
Well-Known Member
If I actually learn how many fish are in the tank I'll be sure to post it here.
arcticwolf
Well-Known Member
I had a nice visit to the zoo yesterday and got to do some activities that I haven't done in a while like seeing an animal show and riding the zoomobile. The animal show was a little disappointing to me because there were only 7 animal species and it was about 10 minutes long. I remember it being about double the length when I was a kid. Also they still use the same songs, facts and jokes that they've ben using for years. The zoomobile was better because I got to see the barbary macaques and dholes for the first time in a while. The commentator wasn't great though and made some mistakes like calling Watusi cattle "Watusi water buffalo". Also for most of the animals he was able to say one or two facts, but when we came to the warthog, all he said was "That's a warthog named Norman. I think that's a good name for a warthog, but I don't know why."
Here are some other updates:
- The Malawi cichlid signs will soon be replaced by electronic signage. I didn't like this style very much at Ripley's aquarium, but maybe it will be better at the zoo.
- There were two little pied cormorants, but I thought only one was left?
- There are two big signs in front of the boarded up clouded leopard exhibit saying something like "New clouded leopards coming soon."
- Humphrey was adorable in his new pool. He was jumping around and playing with a massive ball!
Here are some other updates:
- The Malawi cichlid signs will soon be replaced by electronic signage. I didn't like this style very much at Ripley's aquarium, but maybe it will be better at the zoo.
- There were two little pied cormorants, but I thought only one was left?
- There are two big signs in front of the boarded up clouded leopard exhibit saying something like "New clouded leopards coming soon."
- Humphrey was adorable in his new pool. He was jumping around and playing with a massive ball!
Yeah, electric signs was something I was really disappointed with at Ripley's Aquarium. Hated waiting for the signs to scroll through the many species, just to find out which one you're looking at. Hopefully the zoo will do something different that won't be so vexing.