Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Discussion thread 2022

Kalvin

Kalvin

Well-Known Member
The zoo had some celebratory enrichment for Puppe today, I understand January 1st is when they celebrate birthdays of animals whose actual date of birth is uncertain. But I remembered and saw an article about her 54th birthday celebration back in September. Do we know when her birthday actually is? I just wasn't sure about her 54th and 55th celebrations happening so close together.

It also got me curious about other older orangs. From what I could find, with the passing of 61 year old Inji at the Oregon Zoo in 2021, is Puppe now the oldest orang in North America? Second oldest?
 
Oh, I did not know that they celebrate on January 1st. I believe Puppe's birthday is unknown since she was born in the wild. As for her being oldest in North America right now, I'm not sure on that.
 
@Kalvin, Puppe's birthday is indeed unknown. She was wild born and captured when her mother was killed to get her. I think thats a good part of why her eyes are so soulful. She is now the oldest in North America. She and Charles tend to get two birthdays. Officially most wild born animals are assigned the birthday of Jan 1 and the year they were likely born. However the zoo tends to celebrate the day each one of them arrived at the zoo as well, hence celebrations at other points. Charles is the September arrival, not Puppe. Puppe arrived in July. You might be confusing that celebration with World Orang Day which is in August.
 
Oh wait I figured out the nutty reason they might go for September... thats the month she arrived at Riverdale which is in my opinion a dumb reason to celebrate it then. Toronto is not Riverdale so if you pick her arrival date July would be the better choice. Its her Toronto anniversary plus its during a month when there are more guests and you could do a better job of promoting it as an event then September. Although that event was Sep 23 and her arrival at Riverdale was Sep 6th. Maybe the zoo is just nuts.
 
Combination of reasons. Short version cold climate, old elephants, little hope of new younger elephants, changing standards for maintaining them and the massive price tag to bring the exhibit up to a world class level. If you are looking for a fuller discussion of that look back in the threads to 2009ish - 2013 when they go. There is plenty of discussion about the then hot topic.

Hey I got though saying something about the elephants without sputtering into a rage... good for me.
 
Bad start to the year, Ontario announced new restrictions today including the closure of the zoo starting January 5th due to the surge of Omicron cases. Let's hope this is short lived.
 
Ah nuts I was hoping the zoo still had some time before the inevitable. At least its January and they got the Christmas holiday visits in. It is the quietest time of year so hopefully they can open again by March break... Yeah I know Im not optimistic this will be a short closure.
 
That is true.. need to look at the good part. They got the holiday traffic and yes hopefully open up before march break. I am hoping for a short 2-4 week closure. Not to bring politics into this forum, but it is an election year and I am sure the government is going to be hoping to get business back open ASAP
 
That's odd, I heard it was staying open at 50% capacity. Oh well if they do close January to March is probably their slowest season of the year so it's not like they're losing peak season. I just hope this doesn't impact the orang construction.
 
I didn't see that in the announcement (but I may have still be processing the school closures). Where did you see/hear that? I've tried to check online but can't see the restrictions on the Zoo
 
@Jefferson argh - thanks for the link. I guess we'll see what happens. That was my go-to for an outdoor walk when we got bored of the beach.
 
Quick notes from a quick visit!

First time I’ve ever seen Vasili in the smaller exhibit! Mila is obviously now big enough to be in the larger space.

Paprika is still not out on exhibit.

Saw the Sea Eagles flying in their exhibit. They look much livelier than in the past. Perhaps it’s the cool weather!

Still no snow leopards.

No Komodo dragon on exhibit.

Talked to a volunteer in the health centre. Amazingly kind person and very insightful! No name tag sadly. She confirmed Ember the Lynx passed away due to a quick and nasty virus of some kind. Sad. Master plan confirmed to once again be in its final stages. February is looking likely! Was neat to hear that Dolf attends volunteer meetings regularly! Don’t think this was the case in the past. Cheetah and Bison pregnancies were once again confirmed, and I’m sure there are still those few more they are waiting on.

Finally saw the full caribou herd!

Confirmed 7 scarlet ibis! 3 youngsters. Could only see two Sunbitterns with one looking extremely old. Maybe it was just the day but I’ve never seen one look so frizzy.

First time I’ve surprisingly ever seen the tanagers in the Americas walk through aviary! The turquoise ones are incredible!

No dwarf Crocodile on exhibit and no lemurs on exhibit which was strange.

Puppe was out by herself covered in a blanket right up near the glass! So glad I got to see her!

Sad that the zoo will be closing. The announcement came down during my visit. Hopefully this is just for a short period. I can’t imagine most of the spread is happening at the zoo.

Happy 2022 Zoo Chatters!!
 
Oh yeah!! Apparently Vasili and Mazy have been quite interested in each other of late. They haven’t been put together, but the volunteer did say the zoo might be reconsidering breeding her again because she’s such a great mom! Nothing confirmed, just that the tigers are quite in love! hahaha
 
I'm surprised the zoo itself hasn't posted about this yet if they are closing, they're usually pretty quick on these things.

@animalman0341 The zoo tweeted a pic of Paprika on exhibit this morning, maybe you just missed her? You're super lucky that you got to see the eagles flying, I haven't caught them doing that since my first Wilds visit. Fingers crossed Vasili and Mazy go for seconds after Mila leaves.

That's really good to hear that February's looking more and more likely for the MP, I can't wait to have long discussions about it with you guys whenever it happens.

Thanks for the update!
 
This is the closest I’ve seen to an announcement:

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A frustrating start to 2022 that the zoo is going to close......

Also, do anyone here have past images of the orangutan Kartiko when he was alive?
 
@animalman0341, none of the sunbitterns are old. Someone is probably just molting.

Did the volunteer confirm one or two cheetah pregnancies?

By the time Amur tiger Mila is weaned and separated from mom, Mazy will be 16 years old. The SSP usually stops recommending breeding at 14 for a female. Pregnancy could be too hard on Mazy and there is also a higher risk she may not live to see the cubs hit maturity. Im not sure why a recommendation exists for them to breed again. I know Mazy is very valuable but she has 4 living cubs. If she was with another high ranking male or even just one with genetics unrelated to her first litter then yes maybe run the risk. Vasili though is her old mate Jack's grand nephew and he is part of Tonghua's over represented line. I really would be shock if they went for another litter in 2023.

@ProjectGames, sorry I dont have a photo of Kartiko. I have managed to scrounge up photos of nearly every other orang in the family tree. He is one of the few that alluded me.
 
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