Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2015

Friday I ran into a cheetah keeper who said that in the morning they tested the cheetah run and it and the three cheetahs performed perfectly (that's what I do not like about this - performed).

She said it was up to the keepers on the weekend (she would be off) whether they did it or not. An acquaintance on vacation was going to be there Saturday and Sunday, mainly for the Tiger Awareness Day, but he went to the cheetah keeper talk both days.

He said there were two cheetahs and both days neither performed - they ran after the lure, then stopped and wandered off to sit down. They are supposed to go to the end, get the lure and take it back to the beginning for their reward. The keeper blamed it on the hot weather. Hah - my pet Siamese know many games and many words, but respond when and if they feel like it.
 
Hi everyone! I'm new to the chat...And to the Toronto Zoo, for that matter! I just impulsively signed up for a zoo membership back in June and have been visiting the zoo as often as I can since then. (I've been trying to go every week, even if just to catch a keeper talk or to walk around for a couple of hours.)

I never considered myself to be a huge animal person and hadn't been to the zoo since they used to take us on school trips back in the day...But this summer, I got hooked! I'm loving discovering new things about the animals (and there's always something new!) and how the zoo works! Thank you all for all the wonderful information posted in these forums. It's definitely helped to enrich my own experiences at the zoo! (I had no idea how extensive the breeding programs were or how much work the zoo has been doing in terms of conservation!)

Just a quick question: Is there a thread where we can share random updates on the animals from visits to the zoo? I've become simply mad about the gorillas and have been itching to share random silly observations and new tidbits from my visits (if anyone is interested in reading that kind of thing, of course). About some of the other animals, too...

P.S. I guess this counts as a "zoo development": Subway has officially opened up at the zoo. It's located outside the Africa Restaurant, right next to Smoke's Poutinerie. This might sound a little silly, but I'm ecstatic about it! The zoo was definitely in need of more varied and better quality food options. (I like to buy my lunches, and overpriced, but sub-par pizza, burgers and hotdogs were a bit of a turn-off.) I would love it if they opened up a nice/semi-decent sit-down restaurant (it would encourage me to spend more time at the zoo), but I suppose that's just wishful thinking?
 
First off, welcome to zoochat SimplySlothful. Always glad to have another fan of the Toronto Zoo on here.

As for the random tidbits that you see on your visits, we don't really have a thread for that, but I usually post things like that in this thread or the Birth's, Death thread. Depends on what else I have to say. Maybe we should make a thread for information that is more of an observation and not really a development.

Great to here that Subway has opened up. I think a lot of people would prefer buying the more healthy alternative to what they sell everywhere else.
 
Welcome SimplySlothful! Always good to have another Toronto fan around.

If you want to start a thread yourself full of just random observations feel free to start it. It's not a bad idea. There are times when things don't necessarily fall into the other threads, usually we all just share in the one we are posting the rest of the info in but another thread could work.

As a gorilla fan if you want all of the stats on all of the gorillas the zoo has ever had and have descended from the zoo's gorillas feel free to PM me and I can provide you with everything you could want.
 
Welcome SimplySlothful! It's nice to see a new Toronto Zoo fan and I especially like your story about getting hooked on zoos and animals! I agree that there should be a thread just for small updates so feel free to make it.

Also Subway is a great addition to the zoo and that's where I'll probably be eating next time I visit.
 
Went to the zoo today. Noticed a few things.

Dairy Queen is also open along with the Subway. The Dairy Queen is located at the old snack bar at the Africa Restaurant by the gorillas. So that area has become the main food hub of the zoo. Pizza Pizza, Dairy Queen, Smoke's Poutine, Subway, plus the regular food they serve all in one location. Not to mention plenty of seating.

The Snow Geese (2 of them) have been relocated to the Arctic Fox exhibit.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this before but the Macaws are back on exhibit.

Kiko is still indoors.

Went to check out the Cheetah Run, but it was a total bust. Dozens of people were standing around watching Cheetahs walk around the moving lure, not caring that it was there. It was a giant disappointment to see, although the Keeper talking to the audience did say, on multiple occasions, that they are still training the Cheetahs to do the run. They've tried different lures and different Cheetahs to see what the best combination is. So far Emma seems to be the top runner, when she does run.

At the Lion talk the Keeper cut the feeding short, because Fintan showed food aggression towards Lemon. The Keeper didn't want to reward that behavior. As for what he did exactly, meatball was thrown to him, then to Makali, and then to Lemon. He chased Lemon across the exhibit so he could eat her meatball. Funny thing is that he forgot where it landed and Makali ended up eating it a couple minutes later.

Lastly, all three Wildebeest at on exhibit. Charleston is noticeably smaller than Abe and Ben.
 
Here is a good article about the zoo's birth, early days and the 6 old timers who have been there since opening day (gorillas Charles and Josephine; orang Puppe; west african dwarf croc Monty; royal python Percy; and Nicobar Pigeon Stevie Wonder). There are old photos there. I wonder if the orang in one of the photos is Puppe at a young age but it could be Abigail, Mias, Mingo, or there was another one whos name escapes me.

Once Upon a City: The beginnings of the Toronto Zoo | Toronto Star
 
Big and impressive news. The zoo has finally allowed its fundraising team to embrace technology!

The zoo has embraced crowd funding. For what project you ask? The project we have all been wishing would happen for years... the orang outdoor exhibit! You can raise money as an individual or as part of a team. Haven't decided yet but thinking I will back team Puppe. I want that poor girl to get outside just once more before we loose her. I want the other 5 to go outside period but it just bothers me a little more that Puppe knew the joys of the outside world while living free with her mother and hasn't been outside in 41 years.

The site shows what the exhibit will likely look like. Looks like the o line idea is dead.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-toronto-zoo/support-orangutan-survival/

Donate friends and spread the word.
 
I learned some new things about the zoos Victoria Crowned Pigeons. Unless someone died or was transferred the zoo has a family group. I had thought they were all unrelated. The father is a 34 year old male (so pretty old considering the previous male Crash was 7 years younger and was considered too old to move before he died). The mother is Crash's 22 year old sister (both were born in Toronto). The three remaining pigeons are their two sons and daughter. Unless there has been a change up only the elderly male and female could and should be breeding. Perhaps that's why despite breeding behaviour being observed by people the zoo has yet to have a chick. I wouldn't be shocked though if there has been some changes because the male only has 4 offspring that live in an AZA zoo and we control 3 of them (and they are their mothers only chicks).

Always interesting to learn a little more about the animals the zoo has.
 
My brother just told me that on the Keeper twitter feed, they said someone threw a water bottle in the hippo pool. Samson was found chewing it, and gave it up to the Keepers. Basically, they asked people not to litter.

I can't believe someone would do that.
 
The bottle might not have been thrown in. If it was empty and left on the fence then it could have potentially blown into the enclosure. I would rather think it happened that way than someone made the conscious decision to throw it in the pool. But littering at the zoo doesn't surprise me in the least. And honestly I wouldn't be all that surprised if someone purposely did it. People were constantly tossing coins in the penguin exhibit when it was still in the pavilion.
 
Hi everyone! Thank you for your kind and welcoming notes. I apologize for my rudeness in not replying earlier...

I'm about to head to bed, but will try to catch up on these boards this week.

Just wanted to stop in to tell you that a zoo employee informed me today that Kiko has finally passed his tests and is expected to be out on display some time next week. I don't know how much we can rely on this info, but my fingers are crossed! Can't wait to see him!

Also, I stopped by the cheetah exhibit today and there was a large crowd of zoo guests and keepers around the exhibit. Caught a bit of the cheetah run with one of the cheetahs (Emma?) chasing after the white lure. I didn't see her run the length of the entire exhibit (if that's what she was meant to do), but she did run and chase after it in what appeared to be small circles. It was pretty neat to get a good view of her in action like that! I didn't hang around to watch the whole thing (I was with some other people who wanted to keep walking)...But it looked pretty good to me!

Oh, and last week, I was chatting with a random zoo visitor I ran into, and she told me she'd heard that the Indian Rhino is pregnant! (But that the keepers aren't going around telling the public just yet.) Again, I'm not sure how reliable this source is, but just thought I'd share. Perhaps someone here might know a little more about this...
 
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SimplySlothful, the info about Indian Rhino, Asha, being pregnant has been mentioned already by Mr Wrinkly, who knows just which keepers are reliable, so its no rumor. Now will the calf survive... we wont know that until its born. Things looked ok her first pregnancy but the male calf was breech, a little premature and ended up being a stillbirth. It will be a wait and see for all of us but fingers crossed for a healthy calf.

Kiko has indeed participated in the blood draw. They were expecting the results within a week so its possible the info of the test coming back clear is true. He will likely be on display very soon and begin intros with the girls.
 
Thanks for the confirmation, TZFan. Here's to hoping all goes well with both mother and child and we'll be welcoming a new baby rhino next year!:)

Also, thanks for your generous offer to provide more info on the gorillas. Actually, I think I might have found a link that you (or perhaps it was someone else?) had posted in the chats a while back. It was a family tree of all the gorillas in captivity. I found it most fascinating! I had no idea that we (the TZ) owned gorillas in other zoos! The whole SSP/breeding system is pretty neat!

Even though it happened a few years back, I was saddened (and appalled) to learn about the horrific incident involving Jabari, and his subsequent fate. Understanding that he was Charles' and Josephine's son made the news seem even sadder and slightly more...personal, somehow...I don't fully understand what "ownership" means, exactly, with respect to the gorillas in zoos yet (i.e., what that actually entails in terms of benefits and rights, etc.), but it seems to me that it was a loss to us, as much as it was a loss to the Dallas zoo.
 
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Hi @cypher and @arcticwolf! It's nice to "meet" you! I have enjoyed reading both of your posts on these boards. Thanks for all of the information and updates you have shared!

The next time I have any random observations to post, I'll start a new thread so as not to muddle up this one...Unless someone else beats me to it, of course!

@cypher - Thank goodness Samson was not injured chewing that bottle! Hopefully, people will be more careful with their garbage & debris from now on!
 
This doesn't surprise me. During all my visits during this summer, not once was the parking lots full. I remember a time when they had to use the second parking lot almost every weekend.
 
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