Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Developments 2023

Neil chace said:
AZA accreditation is only valid for five years, however during COVID-19 there was a one-year extension granted to all institutions. This just happened to be Toronto's time in the five-year cycle where accreditation expires, and the institution needs to re-apply and undergo the accreditation process to continue being accredited.
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Ohhh ok, thank you
 
The Zoo Website has put up bids and tenders for two more projects:
1. Washroom renovations at two locations: Simba Restaurant and the Canadian domain zoo mobile station
2.Tiger boardwalk and habitat

Unfortunately the documents are now locked behind a paywall, so while the bathroom as likely pretty straight forward, I presume African themed for both as the domain will be closing in the future and the Master plan has that pathway loop background as part of the Safari Meander.

The real question is the Tigers, this is for the Sumatran tiger. I think the big question is how they are going to build an AODA compliant ramp, around the existing enclosures without tearing out protected trees. It will be interesting to see the plan. I do wonder if there will be an expansion to the tigers enclosures? I do know they raised money for the enclosures with last years Oasis Run, think for a training wall, a tug-of-war feature and perhaps a biplane for feeding if I recall correctly?

I guess now it is wait and see. I am still quite disappointed that they have locked these behind a paywall :(
 
A reno plan for the Domain zoomo stop washrooms is surprising, I figured those would close with the Domain in the next year or two. I guess it doesn't hurt to have an extra washroom even if it's super out of the way like this one is?

I assume the new Indo to Africa boardwalk will be similar in design to the Africa to Americas boardwalk that opened this year, but I'm definitely interested in seeing how they figure out how to build it around the exhibits and the protected trees. I don't think they'd expand those enclosures considering the tigers are set to be moved out of them sometime in the near future.
 
If I remember correctly, the plan was to improve on the boardwalk, by wrapping it around the Tiger exhibits a bit more than they are currently. If there were design specs I wanted to see, it was this one. It'll be interesting to see how this progresses.
 
Well I don't fully know what the plan is with the Sumatran tigers, per the Animals with Purpose plan they actually want to expand the habitats and the holdings they breed more. They also talk about a transfer above the new boardwalk as well in this document.

These are the relevant areas from the Animal Lives with Purpose Document (which was released in 2020):

"Acquire breeding female Sumatran tiger"
"The tiger transfer between exhibits should be relocated above the new boardwalk to provide an exciting experience for guests. Expand tiger space around boardwalk."
"Training wall installation in tiger viewing glass area in the pavilion allows guests to see cats interact closely with keepers and provides educational opportunities."
"The current reproductive success rates of tiger species in accredited institutions needs to show a marked improvement for these populations to remain viable. The existing Sumatran tiger holding should be expanded to provide us with the capacity to hold cubs for a number of years."

The training wall sounds similar to the research centre at the new Orangutan exhibit. I should note the last quote is under long term actions.

If you look at the master plan there are three phases to the Sumatran tiger expansion, so I guess this is phase one. Eventually they talk about potentially bringing them over to the Indian Rhino exhibit area in tunnels, but that looks as it is in addition to their current place. So I am not sure how much will get added to the current exhibit currently.

Obviously at this point they are not extending it over to the Rhinos as they are still here and it is further on the timeline. Personally, and I ave said this many times before, I strongly believe we should keep the Rhinos and not phase them out.
 
All great points @Jefferson. The Animal Live with Purpose Document is one of our sources on future developments unless we've heard word of a definite change. As far as I can recall, there hasn't been much talk on this particular project. We might see something in terms of design in a future Board meeting, once the RFP process has been complete, if we're lucky.

I'm actually really curious about the timeline of this project. Ideally, they'd want to complete this during the fall, winter, and into the spring, if needed. Indo-Malaya would be mostly inaccessible during this time, and that would suck given the New Orangutan exhibit being accessible through the pavilion.
 
According to the Master Plan the Sumatran tiger ramp redo and exhibit upgrades are fourth in line as far as animal-related projects go, behind the third Amur tiger exhibit that they just resumed construction on, Phase 1 of the Conservation Campus which they'll probably break ground on soon, and the indoor red panda viewing that we've seen blueprints for. Obviously things can change and I feel like the new ramp should happen sooner due to accessibility reasons instead of something like the indoor red pandas which would fix an annoyance but isn't a pressing issue, but that's the order they have.

Another thing to consider is that the zoo worked on 4 different projects over the course of last winter (finishing the outdoor orangs, the Australasia aviary overhaul, the Africa to Americas ramp, and getting started on the third Amur exhibit) so it's not out of the question that they could do a bunch of stuff this winter too

Will the outdoor orang exhibit even be open in the winter? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've always had the assumption that since the gorillas don't go outside in the winter the orangs wouldn't either
 
I would assume there is a temperature threshold for the Orangutans for the winter. It will all depend on how the fall goes but I would imagine once cooler temperatures hit they will be indoors for the winter. We can hope for an early spring for them to get back outside.
 
Very true Hyena. Under CEO Dolf, we've seen multiple projects going on at the same time, which was outlined in the Masterplan. It would be nice to see the Indo ramp done during the winter, to be ready for the spring/summer. Time will tell how things progress this winter, because as you said, we could see them breaking ground on the Conservation Campus before the end of the year.

@Jefferson is right. Orangutans have a temperature threshold for sure. I think once we start seeing the daily temperature get lower and lower, we'll see the Orangutans kept indoors.

On the topic of the third Amur Tiger exhibit, I hope they wrap walking paths around the back end of the exhibit for viewing. Not currently fond of the current viewing layout.
 
Zoo adventures said:
That would be great. If there will be cubs staying at the zoo?
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Dont count on Amur cubs anytime soon. Mazy is too old to be bred at 16. Mila and equally ill fated siblings were to be her last litter. Shame really because Mazy was the most or second most valuable female in North America. Now her genetics are in the paws of her three surviving elder cubs, Youri, Sputnik and Volga (born in Granby to Vasili's great uncle Jack). Vasili is way too overrepresented so the SSP isnt giving us another female right now. Problem in Canada is other than Mazy and Sisma (in Granby) all other SSP Amurs are descendants of Toronto's late great Tonghua. Samkha (Calgary), Vasili (Toronto) and Kira (Granby) are full siblings born to his granddaughter. Sarma (Calgary) was born to his son. Youri and Volga (both Winnipeg) belong to son Jack (Granby). Vancouver has a female Hana who is not related but she is not part of the SSP for some reason. There are undoubtedly other Amurs (or rather supposed Amurs) across the country but they are at zoos that dont participate in the SSP and likely wouldnt have certain enough pedigrees to risk it. A new female is due in from Singapore but she has been slated to go to Granby to be with Jack. Really isnt gonna help the situation of too many descendants of Tonghua in Canada. We would need more than one new female to mix it up enough.
 
Is there no opportunity for the US to send a female? It sucks that we sort of limited to Canadian stock.
 
@Flixox101, I honestly cannot explain why the SSP has yet to send up more Amurs with different genetics to mix it up. Tonghua was a European import so his genetics were valuable but now hes overrepresented. We are a little stuck.
 
For those interested, the agenda is up of the next Board meeting. Link provided below.

One item of interest is the 2024-2033 Capital Budget. It provides the planned start and end dates of the Conservation Campus and Savanna Indoor Winter Holding & Viewing.

Conservation Campus is to start late this year which we knew, and completion is for 2026. The budget of this project has increased from $41.3 million to $64.0 million. Interestingly, it also mentions that the Design is still underway, so we could see changes from what's been shown already.

Savanna Indoor Winter Holding & Viewing is to start the Design process this year. Construction is planned from 2025-2027.


Toronto City Council
 
I have a suggestion for a change for the conservation campus we all want. Go back to the sea otter plan. We will all appreciate that. Lol.

Pity we now have to pay if we want to see a sneak peak of the Savanna holding. I am nuts but not that nuts. Have to draw my incessant need to know zoo things budget somewhere.
 
cypher said:
For those interested, the agenda is up of the next Board meeting. Link provided below.

One item of interest is the 2024-2033 Capital Budget. It provides the planned start and end dates of the Conservation Campus and Savanna Indoor Winter Holding & Viewing.

Conservation Campus is to start late this year which we knew, and completion is for 2026. The budget of this project has increased from $41.3 million to $64.0 million. Interestingly, it also mentions that the Design is still underway, so we could see changes from what's been shown already.

Savanna Indoor Winter Holding & Viewing is to start the Design process this year. Construction is planned from 2025-2027.


Toronto City Council
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It would be great seeing animals in indoor for winter.
 
I wasn't able to attend the entire board meeting - but they also announced the moose would visible again from this week, and Sabi (white rhino) was due "any day now" and the newborn was expected within the next six weeks at the latest.
 
@Zooer That's very interesting that the moose are going back on display, especially since the Domain is gonna close for the season in the next few weeks. I guess they've finally finished repairing the flood damage to their exhibit then? Or they've found a new spot for them. In any case I'm glad the girls are back, Toronto isn't truly Toronto without our moose

Here's hoping everything goes well with Sabi. I have my fingers crossed that she'll give birth soon and that the weather will be kind enough to us that we'll get to see the little fella on exhibit before the rhinos have to go in for the winter but that doesn't seem super likely. Oh well it'll probably still be small by next May, Theo was and he was born in December
 
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