Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Future Developments 2008

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A few tidbits of news:
Two male elk have been moved up to the muskox paddock. Introductions to the musk ox are going fairly well, but at the moment are only for short supervised periods.

Also, I believe the cheetah cubs went out to the exhibit for the first time today, in preparation for the weekend.
 
Elk and musk-oxen?Really?I've never heard of that combo but I guess it could work,if that works out they should move those two back and get some woodland caribou to try with?I hope the cheetah cubs had a good first day.Im guessign by the sounds of it the parents are Mya and Luke but I was just wondering if this was for sure true?
 
Zoogoer2000 said:
Elk and musk-oxen?Really?I've never heard of that combo but I guess it could work,if that works out they should move those two back and get some woodland caribou to try with?I hope the cheetah cubs had a good first day.Im guessign by the sounds of it the parents are Mya and Luke but I was just wondering if this was for sure true?
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I guess the size of the exhibit maybe important here the more room the better for them
 
I believe the musk ox / elk combination was tried since we had the elk on hand in an off-exhibit area. Space is something is ready supply in the exhibit, and I think one of the pushes for this experiment was the fact that the musk ox is rarely visible, as he always stays in the corner next to the corral. The elk are coming into rut right now, and thus have hard rack antlers and an attitude to match. It sounds like the two species are treating each other well - both are curious but a bit unsure of the other. (Apparently, the musk ox has been investigating all of the spots when the elk have sprayed urine and isn't impressed). Since this is just a temporary test in an exhibit with an uncertain future, I doubt any caribou will be coming in (sorry ZooGoer!).

Re: Cheetah cubs, yes the parents are Mya and Luke. The cubs are named Mahala and B_____ (six letters ... I think there's a u in it, and maybe an o at the end).
 
Hey long time, so the new tundra map is on the toronto zoo website and the exhibit where the Musk Ox exhibit was supposed to go is that the reindeers?
 
http://www.torontozoo.com/images/polar-map.jpg
The map isn't huge, but it shows what's been cut since the last version (posted in the gallery by Quartz). From the top left going down the map in a diagonal, you pass the reindeer exhibit (looking kind of like a fat hammer), the polar bears (with the outline of the old exhibit still visible), then Arctic wolves. The red at the bottom right is the Americas restaurant.
 
Africa Pavilion

Hi everyone,
I got a quick look at the plans for the renovation of the "other half" of the Africa Pavilion today. There are no (major) species additions, but a better use of space and larger exhibits for all of the animals. These are just plans (and to my knowledge there is no date set for construction), but I thought you might enjoy the highlights:

Coming from the gorilla rainforest side, the path will continue as it is up to the water monitor exhibit. The rest of the perimeter path will be removed and used to expand the red river hog exhibit. Instead of continuing along the outside of the building, visitors will walk across a raised boadwalk which will cross over the pygmy hippo exhibit, past the ibises, to the other side of the pavilion. The current mousebird aviary will be demolished and the land area for the pygmy hippos will be expanded across the current visitor areas, taking up some of the aviary.

Once on the far side of the pavilion, there will be a central 'plaza' which will overlook the hippos, red river hogs, and mandrills. The mandrill exhibit will be expanded significantly, eliminating the dividing pool and the current viewing structure (and turning them both into usable monkey space). There will be a couple of new reptile enclosures at the end of the pavilion, and visitors will exit through the same doors to elephants as occurs now.
 
Do you think the renos will take this winter as planned or not? and it sounds really cool!
 
Ooh, that sounds so nice! Funny enough, I did imagine the pygmy hippos getting a boardwalk over their exhibit. I'm glad they (and the other animals) will be getting a bigger enclosure.

Will the meerkats be included in this renovation or is their enclosure remaining as is as it was fairly recently redone?
 
Meaghan Edwards said:
Ooh, that sounds so nice! Funny enough, I did imagine the pygmy hippos getting a boardwalk over their exhibit. I'm glad they (and the other animals) will be getting a bigger enclosure.

Will the meerkats be included in this renovation or is their enclosure remaining as is as it was fairly recently redone?
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I find that walk-out by the meerkats is over-looked by most guests. Also they have a unoccupied out door space right on the side of the building that could be utilized. Any plans for that area also?

I am pleased to hear of this renovation. This is one of my favorite Pavilions and I tend to always make a point to visit.
 
Hi everyone I'm Andre

I'm new

I was just wondering
Is there any plans to get any animals for the African Pavillion Renovation
 
I think Ungulate mentioned only of some species additions, including reptiles, or maybe fish, but no major animals (large).
 
Ungulate, is there any new information about the tundra?, or other future developments.
 
Nothing too new on the Tundra that I've heard ... they continue working on the gunnite walls, polar bear holding building, and the viewing shelters.

I heard today that the Africa Pavilion reno may NOT take place this year. There have been some concerns expressed about the design, and (of course) money is again an issue. The other factor is that there are several other construction projects that are still going on at the zoo: the tundra, of course, but also the indoor gorilla (rainforest) exhibit - they are raising the height of the wall in the open-air viewing moat due to the shift in dynamics with the addition of Ngozi (and the possibility for escape). I'll keep you posted.
 
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How are they planning to do that? Wouldn't you have to raise the roof of the pavilion? Im not quit sure I understood that?
 
Apologies for the confusion.
They are increasing the height of the moat from the gorilla's perspective (keeping the public path at the same level). I believe they are going to add plexiglass panels at the top of the wall; I'm not sure what this will do to the view.
 
OO okay, I sounded like they were going to lift the top of of the pavilion!
 
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