Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo - Canada's Largest Zoo

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BTW, has anybody been to the zoo lately? If so, how is the tundra comming along?
How are they pygmy, and river hippos holding up?
I read that the komodo dragon is carrying eggs, do you know if she laid them yet?
 
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Our zoo has lost another old friend :( I have a picture of him with one of the youngsters, I'll see if I can find it.

Sunday, July 6, 2008, Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Zoo today announced the passing of Dinding, the Zoo's 50-year-old male orangutan. Dinding had been under treatment for a degenerative disorder for the past 9 months. Following consultation with veterinary and human neurologists, Zoo Veterinary and Animal Care staff made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize Dinding when he recently developed paralysis of his lips and tongue muscles, and had difficulty eating. For the past several months, the orangutan keepers had been caring for Dinding by feeding him a liquefied diet as a result of his inability to chew.

At 50 years of age, Dinding was the third oldest male orangutan in the world at the time of his death. Brought to the Toronto Zoo in 1980, Dinding was an integral contributor to the Zoo's Species Survival Plan (SSP) for the Sumatran orangutan and is the proud father of eight offspring. The SSP is a North American breeding program with the objective of maintaining a healthy captive orangutan population for the future. Dinding has offspring at the Denver Zoo, the St. Louis Zoo and at the Perth Zoo in Australia.

Dinding, whose name in Indonesian means "charm to ward off evil", was known for his gentle and charismatic personality as well as his ability to use a computer and watch TV. Zoo keepers considered him a special member of the orangutan troop who was well respected and a leader. "It's never easy to say good bye to an old friend but he did live an exceptionally long life in comfort: said Jackie Craig, Zoo keeper. "He'll be missed, but we take solace in knowing that he went without pain and with dignity."

Found in the wild only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra (Indonesia), orangutans typically live no more than 40 years in the wild. As one of the closest relatives to humans, this docile creature lives primarily on fruits, leaves, flowers, bark, and insects. The Sumatran orangutan is considered critically endangered due to habitat destruction caused by palm oil plantations and logging practices. There has been an 80% population decline over the past 75 years, with an estimated population now of less than 7,500 in the wild, scientists predict that the orangutan will become extinct by the year 2012. Through breeding programs like the SSP, the Toronto Zoo is providing important work to maintain a healthy captive population in North America for the next 200 years. The Toronto Zoo also supports various orang-utan conservation projects in the wild through the Toronto Zoo Endangered Species Reserve fund.
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Toronto Zoo > About the Toronto Zoo > Press Information

An article about more of old timers:

Aasha the hornbill can't stare back at its visitors at the Toronto Zoo.

The 40-year-old exotic bird is blind, and -- like many animals at the zoo -- trucking along in its golden years.

"Animals in zoos are doing a good job compared to how it is out there," said Siegfried Hekimi, a biology professor at McGill University.

"Animals in the wild only reach a fraction of their potential life-span."

Tessa and Tequila are two wrinkly youngish seniors in their late 30s. The African elephants are basking in the sun at their Scarborough home; it's not Florida, but it will do.

In the wild they could be expected to live up to 50 years.

Animals at the zoo are protected from predation, injury, and starvation, but "survival of the fittest even happens in the zoo," said Graham Crawshaw, Toronto Zoo senior veterinarian.

Despite their extended life-spans, animals in captivity develop degenerative diseases not normally associated with wild animals, Crawshaw pointed out.

Arthritis, cancer, kidney and liver problems keep some animals out of commission.

"An animal that is old and incapacitated in the wild may be picked on and ostracized from the group," Crawshaw said.

"And in some cases, that can happen in the zoo."

Hospitals and retirement areas at the zoo provide care for animals that can no longer adapt.

Diagnosing degenerative animal diseases has also improved, Crawshaw said.

Ailing animals are sent to the University of Guelph to receive some procedures such as MRIs and CT scans.

But sometimes an animals life has to be cut short. Dinding, a 50-year-old orangutan, was put down earlier this week.

"When we recognize that an animal is suffering -- and, medically, we aren't able to do anything to alleviate the pain, suffering, or discomfort, then we will elect euthanasia -- in the same way you would with your cat or dog," Crawshaw said.

An autopsy is done when an animal dies at the zoo.

The remains are then incinerated, or used for educational purposes.
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TorontoSun.com - Toronto And GTA - It's a zoo out there for senior citizens

I've had the great opportunity to speak to Aasha's keeper and got the chance to pet her. I have pics in the gallery :) Some other old timers are the hyenas, old Rowdy, Nokonda, both Scimitar Horned Oryx, Charles and Josephine the gorillas, both the Siberian and Sumatran tiger males, Ginetta the giraffe, and I believe the old White Rhino calls Toronto her home.
 
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Meaghan Edwards said:
Some other old timers are the hyenas, old Rowdy, Charles and Josephine the gorillas, both the Siberian and Sumatran tiger males, and I believe the old White Rhino calls Toronto her home.
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At the moment, there are fewer than ten official "old-timers"; those "original" animals that were present at the zoo on opening day (August 15, 1974):

0.2 African elephants "Tessa" and "Tara"
0.1 gorilla "Josephine"
0.1 orangutan "Puppe"
1.0 dwarf crocodile "Monty"

Plus the breeding male crowned crane, one of the female demoiselle cranes, a ball python, and a Nicobar pigeon!
 
It's always sad to here about an animals passing, unfortanatly they couldn't do anything about it.

Has any one herd about the komodo dragon?
How are the hippos doing?
How is the Tundra comming along
 
In Din's case, it wasn't so much a matter of "doing anything about it" as it was nature taking its course. At age 50, he was a very old orangutan ... and dying is (for better or worse) what old animals do.

No, I haven't heard anything about the Komodo dragons recently; nothing since they were put together for breeding a few months ago.

The river hippos are doing well, as are the pygmy hippos. FYI, it looks like there may be some construction in the "other half" of the African Rainforest pavilion this winter, so the pygmy hippos, red river hogs, and mandrills may all be off display.

The Tundra is coming along slowly. The concrete forming the perimeter moat looks to be almost fully in place, and they have started construction on a holding building.
 
Time to start a new thread - this one is getting too long.

(PS. a new Toronto Zoo forum area is coming soon!)
 
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