Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2020

Another week of safari tickets are available through Jun 14. As of the time I type this the website notes Jun 13 is already sold out. Seems almost as soon as slots are available they are getting snapped up within 24 hours. Though my spot in line was only 200th so demand seems to be going down or at least the most desperate have stopped using all devices possible. Hard to say.
 
For any members trying to book the time I waited was about 30 minutes so not bad. There was only a week available. Good luck getting in early in the morning its all gone. I couldnt find a time that worked for me and my friend considering how far we have to go. Booking is easy though. I booked for another member friend because I was there anyway. Really easy. Timed slots with only so many allowed in at that time. Staggered every 15 minutes. At least 15 spots a time ( thats the highest amount I noticed probably is more). You can also add on your parking. I think the times will be gone fast. Seemed about 50% gone when I looked it over about 2.5 hours after the site opened.
 
About 9pm I was able to get 10am on Friday July 3rd, perfect as it's the only day that worked for my friend and I to go together. The earlier times were all gone but 10am is fine, especially considering we'll be taking the TTC out there.
And you're right, was a very smooth and easy process. At first I was 646 in queue, but it moved quickly and I had my confirmation email/text in less than half an hour.
Really looking forward to it, and not only is it a nice perk for the members, but also a really good way to ease the animals back into people instead of just cars.
 
@Judache I would be interested to hear what the process is like when you get there and how people are following or not following the rules. Other people's general ability to do the right thing and social distance concerns me about going back.
 
TZFan said:
@Judache I would be interested to hear what the process is like when you get there and how people are following or not following the rules. Other people's general ability to do the right thing and social distance concerns me about going back.
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I'm going to the zoo on June 27th (this Saturday), so I can report on what the social distancing rules are like and how they're being followed if you like. Might even take some photos of what the zoo has done, which isn't something I'd usually do.

In regards to the booking, yeah that was surprising super easy. Started at around 700 in queue, but it moved very quickly and getting the tickets was very easy.
 
For anyone who didn't catch this on the live stream the Wild Encounters will be back July 1. It will be a smaller list of options and there will be no touching or feeding.

Toronto Zoo | Wild Encounter

More slots have been added every day this week for members as well.
 
Everyone will be allowed to visit as of July 4. Tickets are now on sale for everyone. Time for the zoo to start making real money again. They are offering a 20% discount because not everything will be open. Good for them to recognize that.
 
As people come back to the zoo they have extended the hours to 9 am to 9 pm on Thursdays and Saturdays to help let more people visit and lets be honest make more money. And unfortunately rather than opening the whole zoo up to foot traffic the safari will continue at least until July 19th at this point. Unfortunate because they are blocking some of their biggest draw animals from being seen by people paying more to enter. But as long as the safari is filling up slots they can probably make more money and will continue to offer it. Also lets people more concerned about social distancing to feel safer.
 
The zoo has launched a new streaming option. You can set up a virtual 20 minute tour of an area for your group. They are also doing event shout outs. There's not a lot of details even when going through the ordering process. It needs a little more info added I think but this is brand new so changes will likely be seen over time.

For the virtural tours the areas are currently divided up as...

Africa Rainforest 1 (including gorilla, otter, aviary)
Africa Rainforest 2 (including lemur, pygmy hippo, red river hog)
Africa Rainforest 3 (including meerkat, aquariums, crocodile)
African Savanna 1 (including giraffe, river hippo, warthog, kudu)
African Savanna 2 (including lion, watusi, penguin, hyena)
African Savanna 3 (including rhino, zebra, cheetah, baboon)
Americas 1 (including jaguar, spider monkey, flamingo, macaw)
Americas 2 (including primates, aviary, snakes, alligator)
Americas 3 (including otter, lizards, beaver, turtles, rattlesnake)
Australasia 1 (including aviary, tree kangaroo, Komodo dragon, wombat)
Australasia 2 (including aquariums, seahorse, jelly fish)
Canada (including grizzly, moose, cougar, bald eagle)
Eurasia 1 (including snow Leopard, mountain goat, camel)
Eurasia 2 (including tiger, red panda, kangaroo)
Indo-Malaya 1 (including catfish, carp, turtles, aviary)
Indo-Malaya 2 (including hornbill, gibbon, orangutan, python)
Indo-Malaya 2 (including rhino, aviary, clouded leopard)
Tundra Trek 1 (including Arctic fox, wolf)
Tundra Trek 2 (including polar bear, caribou)

Toronto Zoo | Wild Encounter
 
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The zoo sent out an email to members last night with information about an updated schedule effective July 20th.

1) Scenic Safari drive-through will only be sold for Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays.

2) The rest of the Savannah, the Canadian Domain, The Americas pavilion and the Mayan Temple will be open again to foot traffic, although it states there may be some partial closures in some areas on the days when the safari is also running. Pre-booked timed ticket entry is still required for everything - which is not only necessary numbers-wise, but will ensure people know what type of day they are booking for. I'm assuming the foot traffic even on non-safari days will still be a series of one way loops, since they don't say otherwise...but I guess we'll see.

3) As already announced, they will be open until 9pm Thursdays and Saturdays, last entry at 6pm.

3) For the time being, the zoo will be closed on Mondays - deep cleaning and "to help control operational costs".

I expect there will be public social media posts today announcing these changes.
 
Nice they have come to a compromise on the safari. Three days a week seems fair.

Very interesting they are closing on Monday's for a deep clean but if that's what they think is best then so be it. Their health and safety manager is an infectious disease expert so if she says close one day to deep clean then that's whats in our and the animals best interest. We are lucky to have her looking out for us. I also get its a cost cutting procedure which makes sense after being deprived of funds for nearly 4 months and reduced revenue even now.
 
Has anyone read the Front Entrance document from the board meeting? There is an exhibit in the front plaza that is to it seems be a front entrance exhibit for penguins and... sea otters? Sadly there isn't much detail. Getting penguins would be easy. Just move some of the African penguins. We do have a portion of the flock that are potential African Humboldt crosses that cannot be bred due to that. Easy move all of them out to the new exhibit and the rest can stay a breeding colony in the Savanna. Simply. The otter is more intriguing. Original plans called for a river otter exhibit. I had always thought great add the beavers and we have something way better than what we currently have. However sea otters are interesting. While penguins and sea otters aren't an obvious pairing it would put two very active and highly attractive animals right at the gate. They both would need significant life support systems too. The sea otters could even be outside a good chunck of the winter. I would be thrilled to see the zoo house 3 types of otter. I just never expected they would look at sea otters. Now I will be left wondering for awhile is it still the river otters and a typo or will we really get sea otters? And who do I talk to get Asian small clawed otters and giant otters so we can have all SSP otters because you really cant have too many otters.

There is also a sight set aside as a flexible exhibit that will span the forest from the carousel to the bridge to leading to the Indian Rhinos. That's a relatively good sized space. I would say comparable to the Indian Rhino main yard so unless a building will go there I would assume it would be used for a larger animal. It's listed as phase 3 so long time off likely.

They are just in the funding phase so any plan is down the line but always cool to see glimpses of what could be.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-150794.pdf
 
The penguin/otter exhibits seem a bit too small and close to the entrance for my personal liking. Maybe move them to the area marked 22?

Also, as excited as the prospects of sea otters is, i'm not sure the entrance is the best spot. Maybe swap the NA otters with them, modifying their exhibit in the process?
 
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You might be surprised by the space an otter needs. The minimum spacial requirements are surprisingly low. Not that the zoo should aim low. If I read the care manuals correctly it actually looks like the minimums for sea otters is less than that for river otters. Both care manuals break things down differently so I could be misinterpreting. Looks like the average size for a sea otter is about 105 metres square while a river otters is recommended for an average of 150 metres square. That's just exhibit surface area for two otters. Each additional otter require more. Using google maps our current otter exhibit sits at about 160 metres square excluding the indoor space. Now if you measure the area in the courtyard where the trees sit it gives you can get an area about 800 metres square and still have space to walk around it. I used the street view path to create a box around the trees. So the space is there to create a decent sized sea otter exhibit. It is surprising but you could fit an otter exhibit in there and a barn with winter space pretty well and still exceed the average. Assuming the google measurements are right. You could even push it further depending on where they place the buildings in the end. I measured out the sumatran tiger exhibit next to the pavilion and its space is nearly 800 metres square as well. Just for a point of reference.
 
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