Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2023
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hyena142
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately avian flu continues to be a problem for the zoo, a new case was confirmed nearby and the zoo is taking precautions once again. The walkthrough aviaries are closing starting tomorrow and guests will be rerouted through the pavilions once again. Hopefully this won't last long and this'll be the last time we'll have to deal with it
Sucks that the aviaries need to close again but the upside is with the closures the flamingos actually started making nests for the first time in forever so maybe we will get some chicks... that we probably wont be able to enjoy until they are grown. Hey a baby is a baby.
Unfortunately I dont think the avian flu problem is going away any time soon. Its also sadly being seen in increasing numbers of mammals who obviously are eating infected or dead birds. Its been seen in coons, foxes, grizzlies, skunks, sea lions, and dolphins for example.
Unfortunately I dont think the avian flu problem is going away any time soon. Its also sadly being seen in increasing numbers of mammals who obviously are eating infected or dead birds. Its been seen in coons, foxes, grizzlies, skunks, sea lions, and dolphins for example.
Looks like from Dolf's Instagram page the Americas walk through aviary is becoming a new indoor macaw habitat. Finally an answer as to what is going on in there. Sadly its coming at the cost of the scarlet ibis, and sunbittern, and possibly the green aracari (I know nothing about that species yet).
Also looks like the government is giving the zoo funding to upgrade the greenhouse and do some environmental upgrades to the site as a whole.
Also looks like the government is giving the zoo funding to upgrade the greenhouse and do some environmental upgrades to the site as a whole.
hyena142
Well-Known Member
Sorry to see the other Americas aviary birds go (god I hope the aracari makes it but I have my doubts) but it'll be nice to have a place to see the macaws in the winter for sure. I guess it'll be empty in the summer though unless we get some others? That'll make for kind of a boring entrance to Americas.
The zoo could easily pick up some rescues to fill it. Or maybe they will pick up Hyacinths (or some other SSP macaw) to have a breeding pair and then the others can just join them in the winter. The show macaws could be there too in the summer during their down time. Would make them a little hit or miss. Guess we will find out... whenever its done or if we see 2 groups of macaws this summer. Or the reasonable answer, someone talks to a keeper.
I was back at the zoo on Sunday (sunny but cold) for the first time in a while and three comments on developments:
1) Boardwalk - the Americas/Africa boardwalk was closed again for "construction". I don't know what they were doing to it - but maybe it wasn't quite ready after all for March break?
2) Winter Zoomobile - I really try to not criticize the Zoo, but this was my first trip on the Winter Zoomobile and I wasn't impressed. It could be that it's currently being used to shuttle people back and forth with the boardwalk being closed - but the route stayed on the pedestrian paths (other than the back of the admin building), the only animals it passed were the Himalayan Tahr, and the pre-recorded messages weren't that informative or value-add. I suspect it's very helpful to people who may struggle to get around, but I won't use it again unless the route changes again.
3) Polar bears - I had read (somewhere) they wanted to convert the pool to salt water, but can't recall reading about them adding a chiller to the pool for year-round use. The volunteer at the polar bears wasn't sure when it was happening (had thought it was going to be spring - but said it was more likely in the slower months next fall/winter).
Other items of note (but not worth starting an entry in the discussion board):
1) Stellar Sea Eagles are back in their exhibit - so presumably no successful breeding, and
2) Tundra - polar bears and wolves were very active first thing in the morning in the cold but sunny weather.
There was good "engagement" with volunteers throughout the day which was nice to see.
1) Boardwalk - the Americas/Africa boardwalk was closed again for "construction". I don't know what they were doing to it - but maybe it wasn't quite ready after all for March break?
2) Winter Zoomobile - I really try to not criticize the Zoo, but this was my first trip on the Winter Zoomobile and I wasn't impressed. It could be that it's currently being used to shuttle people back and forth with the boardwalk being closed - but the route stayed on the pedestrian paths (other than the back of the admin building), the only animals it passed were the Himalayan Tahr, and the pre-recorded messages weren't that informative or value-add. I suspect it's very helpful to people who may struggle to get around, but I won't use it again unless the route changes again.
3) Polar bears - I had read (somewhere) they wanted to convert the pool to salt water, but can't recall reading about them adding a chiller to the pool for year-round use. The volunteer at the polar bears wasn't sure when it was happening (had thought it was going to be spring - but said it was more likely in the slower months next fall/winter).
Other items of note (but not worth starting an entry in the discussion board):
1) Stellar Sea Eagles are back in their exhibit - so presumably no successful breeding, and
2) Tundra - polar bears and wolves were very active first thing in the morning in the cold but sunny weather.
There was good "engagement" with volunteers throughout the day which was nice to see.
@Zooer, the new boardwalk was probably ready enough for March break but snow has been round it for a couple of months and now that its melted they probably have more work they just need to finish up. Nothing that would be a safety concern or they would never have opened it in the first place. Might be an issue of prettying it up or installing seating, signage, lighting, those kinds of things.
The winter zoomo's purpose isnt as much about giving you views of the animals as it is shuttling guests to the pavilions so they dont have to make long hikes in the cold.
Dolf and his team are smart and using down time in the off season to their advantage when it comes to their non exhibit work. I wouldnt be surprised in the least if the polar bear project until next fall. You wouldnt want to possibly interrupt the bears being on display in the big pool in the spring (school field trip season) and summer. I'd assume they would replace one filtration system with another so there would be some time when the pools would all be empty.
You are right the sea eagles having moved back home isnt a good thing for breeding success unless they have a chick they have been forced to hand rear but you would think they would be proudly announcing the first of its kind hatching in Canada (I dont think anyone else in Canada has been successful) and they are hard to breed. But we dont need to fret too much over a lost season. Alik (our male) has just hit maturity. Katya has laid eggs in the past but they werent fertile because Alik wasnt ready and one year I know the clutch was lost to a raccoon. They are a young pair who need to learn how to incubate and then care for their chick. The zoo might give them a couple of years to just figure it out before they try to pull the eggs for incubation and to put them back once the chick has hatched like zoos do with California condors. The fact though that Katya has laid infertile eggs is a good thing. Hopefully in a couple of years we will get out first chick.
It will be interesting to see the progress of some of the projects we dont realize are going on or cant see when Dolf returns from his South African vacation and starts posting progress photos on his Instagram.
The winter zoomo's purpose isnt as much about giving you views of the animals as it is shuttling guests to the pavilions so they dont have to make long hikes in the cold.
Dolf and his team are smart and using down time in the off season to their advantage when it comes to their non exhibit work. I wouldnt be surprised in the least if the polar bear project until next fall. You wouldnt want to possibly interrupt the bears being on display in the big pool in the spring (school field trip season) and summer. I'd assume they would replace one filtration system with another so there would be some time when the pools would all be empty.
You are right the sea eagles having moved back home isnt a good thing for breeding success unless they have a chick they have been forced to hand rear but you would think they would be proudly announcing the first of its kind hatching in Canada (I dont think anyone else in Canada has been successful) and they are hard to breed. But we dont need to fret too much over a lost season. Alik (our male) has just hit maturity. Katya has laid eggs in the past but they werent fertile because Alik wasnt ready and one year I know the clutch was lost to a raccoon. They are a young pair who need to learn how to incubate and then care for their chick. The zoo might give them a couple of years to just figure it out before they try to pull the eggs for incubation and to put them back once the chick has hatched like zoos do with California condors. The fact though that Katya has laid infertile eggs is a good thing. Hopefully in a couple of years we will get out first chick.
It will be interesting to see the progress of some of the projects we dont realize are going on or cant see when Dolf returns from his South African vacation and starts posting progress photos on his Instagram.
hyena142
Well-Known Member
I think this year was more of a test run for the eagles since Alik just became mature. They have the monkey exhibit free and probably won't need to start work on the jaguar expansion for another little while (as long as Luca's still with us there's no need to expand), so why not use this year to see how they do in that exhibit over the winter and see if Katya is more comfortable breeding and with eggs away from the prying eyes of visitors, even if chicks don't happen it can be a good learning experience for the keepers.
Actually @hyena142, there is some need to do something soon with the jags if we are going to receive that super valuable female from Granby. If they could even just get it passable to hold her they could house both her and Luca until he passes. At this point with a massive change coming to the jags in the master plan they might just make changes to make the space serviceable for now.
I wonder if it would be worthwhile to pull the bald eagle from the Domain and move them down there for the winter to see if total privacy works.
I wonder if it would be worthwhile to pull the bald eagle from the Domain and move them down there for the winter to see if total privacy works.
For anyone planning on visiting over Easter weekend or in the days following, the Domain remains unexpectedly closed. They had hoped to open for the long weekend but they are still in the middle of some state of good repair projects and tree trimming so they have decided to keep it closed for the time being.
hyena142
Well-Known Member
Here's some updates from Dolf about various happenings around the zoo, including the outdoor orangs
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Oh man the netting going up in the aviaries is sad. I get the reasoning 100% just sucks. I like being close to the birds. As much of a mammal freak as I am I really do love the walkthrough aviaries because you are right there with the birds. However its clear Avian Flu is here to stay and the zoo needs to adjust to it or risk losing their entire bird population through a force cull thanks to just one bird getting sick. There is also now the increased risks to the zoos carnivores if they eat an infected bird they will likely lose anyone who partook in the accidental meal. Avian flu is one scary disease.
On a happier note the orang exhibit looks like its nearing completion.
Did you not see his post of the new macaw exhibit the first day he was back from vacation? I am disappointed we lost a kinda pretty spot for what they build. Maybe in time plants will fill in but for now Im sad to have lost the scarlet ibis and sunbittern and anything else we had in there and I cant remember.
On a happier note the orang exhibit looks like its nearing completion.
Did you not see his post of the new macaw exhibit the first day he was back from vacation? I am disappointed we lost a kinda pretty spot for what they build. Maybe in time plants will fill in but for now Im sad to have lost the scarlet ibis and sunbittern and anything else we had in there and I cant remember.
So I noticed that the netting in the aviary shown is the Indo-Malaya aviary. Is there a chance that this is done here specially, because access is needed to get to the Outdoor Orangutan exhibit? Sure, it's wishful thinking that maybe the outdoor exhibit might open early, but it's not too hard to see that it could be in preparation for more traffic from guests and workers alike.
That flooding they had by the moose habitat must have been bad. They have been working down there on it for like a year now. Maybe they should just rotate the male bison to the pasture beside the females and put the moose in the male bison pen. At least the will maybe be visible then.
hyena142
Well-Known Member
Frankly I'm surprised they're even bothering with fixing the exhibit considering it's a multi-year construction job, the Domain has roughly 2 years before it closes for good. There are multiple ways to solve the problem if Lilly and Trilly are still around, like you say the bachelor bison exhibit has room, or I'm sure there's a spot in Old Eurasia or the drive thru that they could put them in after shuffling some stuff around.
Oh yeah you could totally put them in Old Eurasias wisent exhibit but I think they try to keep it free so if they have to quarantine new hoofstock its available. And given their age they might not want to move them to avoid the stress of a move.
As to why they are investing in fixing things up, I think it all boils down to the future of the domain. I think they want to keep it for hoofstock holding. When we have too many animals like the zebras we can free up space by using the domain. I wouldnt be surprised if Dolf is eyeing that as the potential breeding facility once the space is freed up. There is a ton of room available and we all know if he can empty that space he loves doing little side projects. If he can slowly sneak in a breeding facility by doing one thing at a time he just might.
As to why they are investing in fixing things up, I think it all boils down to the future of the domain. I think they want to keep it for hoofstock holding. When we have too many animals like the zebras we can free up space by using the domain. I wouldnt be surprised if Dolf is eyeing that as the potential breeding facility once the space is freed up. There is a ton of room available and we all know if he can empty that space he loves doing little side projects. If he can slowly sneak in a breeding facility by doing one thing at a time he just might.