First some construction/habitat updates.
It looks like most of the foundations are in for the main entrance. One wall had gone up when I was there, so we might see some noticeable progress this year. Peacock café and the main zoomobile station are closed while the carousel, Smoke’s, and Beavertail trucks remain unchanged. The current zoomobile route starts in-between the former outdoor greater one-horned rhino habitat and the Malayan Woods Pavilion.
The boardwalk expansion linking the Indo-Malayan and Core Woods boardwalks looks to be almost done. I was told by a staff member that it is set to open this month. They’ve also extended the entrance to the Indo-Malayan boardwalk at the Africa end, next to the picnic area (pictured below). They turned the stairs in front of the multifaith prayer room/washrooms into boardwalk, and added some kind of platform in the middle of the picnic area (also pictured below, not sure what it is).
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The African Savanna barn seems to be mostly finished, it looked like they were just working on the interiors. I don’t know what the set completion date is, but if it opens this year that could be something fun to look forward to.
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The old Komodo dragon habitat looks like it has been cleaned up. There are two new things outside the habitat (pictured below), which I assume are for visitor engagement/education. It still has the signage saying Komodo dragons are coming soon. There are also noise readers around the zoo to show how much noise the construction is making, if anyone is curious.
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The back window of the gorilla rainforest habitat is still blocked off. When I asked a volunteer I was told they initially thought the damage was just caused by the boys being rough on the glass, but actually there are larger problems with how the ground has settled under that part of the building.
Now for animal stuff.
I got to hear Rosie the galah say ‘hello’ and it was very cute. Apparently, she knows some other words too but I only heard hello.
I talked to a volunteer about the wombats, found out they mated last fall but it did not result in a pregnancy. They have had two pregnancies in the past, but neither joey survived. The keepers aren’t overly concerned with breeding them because their populations in the wild are doing fine, but they're allowing the pair to breed as long as they show interest.
I was also told by a volunteer that the kookaburra pair have laid eggs but they are not recommended for breeding at this time, so the keepers switched the eggs out for dummy eggs.
I finally got a good look at the bettong! He seems to have settled in at last.
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The kangaroos and wallabies were out in the walkthrough area, though the actual walkthrough wasn’t open for the season yet. Which reminds me, I remember overhearing a keeper last year say that 2 of the kangaroos were being relocated that fall. I believe one was Howie and the other was a female (I think she said Shelia but I’m not sure). The keeper also said they had recently discovered the female had a 2 month joey and that her new home had been made aware (implying she and joey were still being transferred). I was on my way out at the time so I wasn’t able to clarify any of this, and I haven’t managed to run into any kangaroo keepers since to ask. Can anyone confirm this?
Got a great view of the red pandas, right up against the glass. I’ve been coming here for years and I’ve never seen them this close. Kalden and Poppy seem to be getting along really well.
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Speaking of getting along well, RJ and Maybelle (NA river otters) were playing and cuddling together and it was very cute. One volunteer said they had been seen exhibiting mating behaviours, but another said he wasn’t sure if the keepers would breed them. In order to breed them they have to be separated for a time, and the concern is that they have become so close that the separation would be traumatic for RJ. Given his age, they might just let Maybelle be a companion for him. I understand the reasoning, but a part of me selfishly still wants otter babies.
I heard a volunteer talking about the loss of Madeira and Cora’s baby (White-faced Sakis). It was born alive by C-section but died soon after. The two have been paired up for 4 years but only showed interest in mating in the past year, to the surprise of the keepers. So far, they have had 2 miscarriages and this third loss. The keepers will continue to let them breed as long as they show interest, but they are cautiously optimistic given that Cora’s mother also had difficulty reproducing.
It seems like many of the Kids Zoo animals were off display, like the raven and the ferret. This could just be because it was early in the season, or because having the temporary entrance there is bringing a lot more foot traffic to the area. The guinea pigs were moved into the window where the armadillos were previously displayed, which means the armadillos were off display (personally I would have preferred the armadillos over the pigs).
I was able to attend a gorilla keeper talk, although the keeper seemed kind of new and the volunteer was actually more helpful (at one point the keeper said Johari was unrelated to the rest of the troop). Understandably, the main troop took Charles’ death very hard, and it sounds like there was a period where relations within the troop were pretty bad. But since then, they have recovered and are getting along much better than keepers expected. Ngozi has taken over as leader and is tolerating Johari quite well; she had difficulty keeping control over Nneka and Charlie without Charles and she’s realized Johari can help back her up. There was also a post on TZ’s insta that Nneka has grown closer to Johari as she becomes more independent from mom, she’s been seen coming up for food with Johari and waiting for her when they move enclosures. When I was there, they were all sitting together and Johari wasn’t keeping her distance like before. I asked about a new male and the keeper said there are no updates yet, they are carefully considering all their options but they are in no rush because the girls are getting along so well. At some point the keeper also mentioned that going forward TZ wants to be careful not to overbreed animals past the zoo’s capacity to care for them, which has me a little concerned for the future of the gorilla breeding program but I’m trying not to read too much into it.
