Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo - Developments 2016

Results of the the Giant Panda Global Awards are in. Toronto Zoo received a gold, silver and bronze award. They're listed below:

Gold: Most Educational Panda Zoo Enclosure for the Panda Interpretive Centre
Silver: Panda Cub of the Year for Er Shun's twin cubs
Bronze: Panda Moment of the Year: Er Shun giving birth to Canada's first giant panda cubs
 
Ok Im sad there isn't a single pair I really like and I have no clue which names go to the male and which to the female. I picked DuoDuo and Jaijai because I want them to have their own names without sharing part of it with their twin. I do like the sound of Jai Bao Bao and Jai Bei Bei but Washington has their own Bao Bao and Bei Bei. We should get our own unique names. I also think Jai Bao and Duo Bao will be strong contenders. The others seem like a bit of a mouthful and are a little trickier for Canadians to master (especially since we all know there are guests who don't even know what a panda is even when looking right at them).

Bummer we have to wait until March to learn their names. Oh well maybe we will finally learn the lion cubs names in the mean time... or the polar bear cub's name. We all know my name obsession continues.
 
Also good to know that the cubs will be on exhibit for the March Break (March 12 to March 20) and Easter Weekend (March 25 to 28). They probably won't be on full time exhibit until the spring.
 
I was scanning through the zoo's website and found this interesting article on the zoo's hopes to breed the critically endangered Dusky Gopher Frog. If successful it will be a Canadian first. The frogs are not on display. It also talks about on going work with Puerto Rican crested toad.

Toronto Zoo | Weekly Media Send Outs

Oh and for anyone looking to work at the zoo they have their summer hiring going on now.

Toronto Zoo | Job Postings
 
That's great to see. They'll definitely be ready to see for the March break and Easter weekend, end of march.
 
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the female Polar Cub goes on exhibit in the next couple weekends. If we look back at Humphrey, he was born November 9th of 2013. He then wen on exhibit during the weekend of February 15th and 16th of 2014. Seeing how the new female cub was born November 11th, I figure it won't be much longer until she's put on exhibit.

Also, anyone hear about the Indian Rhino calf?
 
Still no word on the rhino calf front. Everyone is just waiting for mother nature to kick in. The staff like all of us are anxiously awaiting the big day.
 
Voting for the Panda cub's names is still underway, but for those interested, these are the top three leading names so far:

Jia Panpan & Jia Yueyue
(Canadian Hope & Canadian Joy)

Duo Duo & Jia Jia
(Toronto & Canada)

Jia Bao & Duo Bao
(Canadian Treasure & Toronto Treasure)
 
Not sure what forum to put this in, but the lions Cubs have been named!
-Hank
-Gus
-Harrison
-Oliver

Pretty original in my opinion. I'm surprised they didn't go with somthing more unique or African.
 
Haven't seen it yet, but there's a video on facebook matching each cub to each name.

Someone also asked about the Polar cub naming, and the response was, it'll be announced soon.
 
For those interested, the details for the Board Management meeting on Feb 25 is up. I didn't look at it in detail, but I noticed that in section ZB7.7, it mentioned that the new master plan for the zoo should be completed in June of this year. Here's the link for anyone interested.

TMMIS - Committees
 
Reading through the docs from the board meeting...

From the marketing the zoo seems to have learned social media is good. Babies and their progress being documented for the public is good. I know things we have all been saying for years they have just come to accept.

The panda twins will be named March 7th!

March 8th members will be allowed to meet the Panda cubs! Everyone else will by March 12th.

The polar bear cub will make her debut Feb 27th! No mention of her naming date.

The whole pride of lions will debut outside later in the spring... no date given firmly but a lot will depend on the integration of the full pride and weather. Wouldn't be too surprised if it was Easter to get the biggest bang for their effort.

They are working with hotels in the area to promote visits. For those of you out of towners who say in one of the participating hotels that means 20% off tickets. Not bad.

They are debuting a new guest experience team this summer with the idea that they will provide new and engaging experiences for guests.

Shocking news on the construction front... the health unit is on schedule. Thank you mild winter. All major walls are up, its enclosed, the roof will start in March, interior work such as walls, electrical and plumbing has begun. Should be done by early 2017. That's fantastic news for our orangs who will hopefully stay as the next priority.

The watusi barn is done and the watusi moved in.

The Mayan Temple will need a roof replacement which should happen in April.

The Indian Rhino house refurb has been shelved due to the calf's arrival. They will go back to it once he is older. Which by the way Facebook is saying he will be on display with in a couple of days. Im thinking next weekend.

Ambient sound has been added to indo Malaya.

Groupon offers helped to bring in more guests.

Attendance was up at the end of the year thanks to the lion cubs. They expect much more once the other babies go on display. However attendance over all for the year was down which is not surprising given the numbers being reported over the course of 2015. Two weeks of lion cubs cannot overcome a whole year where people didn't come. No big babies for the year didn't help.

Attendance so far this year is up... not to their projected number but up is up. The good weather and lion cubs have helped. The next couple of months should be big with the other babies taking the stage as well.

There's your quick glance at the boards information.
 
I went to the zoo yesterday. Not much of anything new to report, but I did speak with the Keeper at the White Lion cubs. Here's what I got from our discussion.

-The cubs have been introduced to both Fintan and Lemon. During the weekdays the pride in altogether in the lion house, so they are definitely used to each other.

-The cubs have also been in the main exhibit, but only with the Keepers. The next step to put them out with their mother, and than Fintan and Lemon.

-They are hoping for a full debut on exhibit, with the entire pride during the March Break, weather permitting.
 
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