Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Future Developments 2013

Ah you talked your mom into it. Good for you. If you could get a pic of the kudu calf that would be awesome and well any other baby. Other than that and the obvious red panda photos... I miss those little guys too... any other pics you have to share would be great. I love waiting for your photos because several of them are always awesome.

Say goodbye to Thika, Iringa, and Toka for me... and probably all of the other zoochatters who cant make it.

And most importantly of all have a great time even if the weather is supposed to be less than ideal.
 
Actually my 5 year old brother convinced her to take us because he still hasn't seen the pandas yet and he really wants to see the elephants one last time. I'll make sure to get plenty of pictures of the red pandas, elephants, and whatever babies I can.

I'm not worried about the weather. Whenever I go to the zoo, the weather is supposed to be bad, but in the end it all works out. This has happened on my past three visits to the zoo.
 
I've told you that your just one of those blessed lucky people. Animals pose for you. The sun happens to shine for you. Your little brother cons your mom into going to the zoo for you.

I would guess now that summer is over with and many families use Sunday for thanksgiving your wait time for the pandas should be less. Though the last weekend for the elephants and thanksgiving might work against you. But this is you so Im guess it will work for you.
 
When I first found out that Ripley's was building an aquarium in TO, I expressed my concerns for the TZ. Most of you thought I was crazy. I spent the morning at the aquarium as part of the friends and family preview. It is spectacular. Ripley's did an amazing job. It will most definitely be the go to destination and the TZ will have to step up it's game, particularly in the winter time. Given it's accessibility to public transit and given that it is at the base of one Canada's main tourist attractions, I have little doubt that it will attract the 2 million visitors a year it hopes to. The cost to go is more than a little outrageous and hopefully they will have memberships. Until they offer memberships they won't get the mom crowds like the TZ does. But once they do, I fear for the TZ. I said when Ripley's first announced that I hope the TZ would have to set up it's game to stay competitive. They certainly will have to. It's sad that City Council did not see fit to release the TZ from it's control. But maybe with Ripley's in town, the City will see that it cannot simply allow the TZ to stagnate, take years to finish projects, make half efforts with exhibits and continually underfund the TZ. One can only hope that both the City and the TZ will learn some lessons from what will certainly be a success for TO tourism now that Ripley's has arrived. I hope you all enjoy Ripley's as much as I did!
 
kknudsen said:
When I first found out that Ripley's was building an aquarium in TO, I expressed my concerns for the TZ. Most of you thought I was crazy. I spent the morning at the aquarium as part of the friends and family preview. It is spectacular. Ripley's did an amazing job. It will most definitely be the go to destination and the TZ will have to step up it's game, particularly in the winter time. Given it's accessibility to public transit and given that it is at the base of one Canada's main tourist attractions, I have little doubt that it will attract the 2 million visitors a year it hopes to. The cost to go is more than a little outrageous and hopefully they will have memberships. Until they offer memberships they won't get the mom crowds like the TZ does. But once they do, I fear for the TZ. I said when Ripley's first announced that I hope the TZ would have to set up it's game to stay competitive. They certainly will have to. It's sad that City Council did not see fit to release the TZ from it's control. But maybe with Ripley's in town, the City will see that it cannot simply allow the TZ to stagnate, take years to finish projects, make half efforts with exhibits and continually underfund the TZ. One can only hope that both the City and the TZ will learn some lessons from what will certainly be a success for TO tourism now that Ripley's has arrived. I hope you all enjoy Ripley's as much as I did!
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I'm glad that the new Toronto Aquarium is good, especially since the city has gone for so long without one. I will probably visit it in the next few weeks. I don't think the Toronto Zoo will have to worry about competition with the aquarium. Firstly, the zoo already has a ton of aquatic animals like polar bears, otters, penguins, crocodiles, great barrier reef, octopi, etc. so if people want to see a mix of land and water animals, they can go to the zoo. Also the aquarium will never have popular land animals like pandas, giraffes, gorillas, and tigers, and they don't have any of the very popular marine animals like penguins, dolphins, and seals. For those reasons, I think the aquarium may be popular, but not as popular as the zoo.
 
I only have a few updates from my rainy (but still fun) day at the zoo:

- the red pandas were adorable. I learned that even though their exhibit has been closed off, no renovations have happened to it and there are none planned.
- the frilled lizard exhibit was empty with no plants, animals, or even rocks. I'm guessing it is having some kind of renovation done to it.
- I have taken pictures of the other unlabelled species in the Americas marine tanks and I'll be posting them in the gallery soon. Hopefully someone will know what they are.
- there were lots of tadpoles in the golden frog exhibit.
- saying goodbye to the elephants was pretty sad, even though there was only one on exhibit. I think it was Iringa.
- even though it's not news, one of the highlights of my day was watching one of the river otters catch a live wild frog, kill it, and start playing with it. Even though I felt bad for the frog, it was pretty entertaining to watch.
 
Glad you had fun arcticwolf.

With regards to the city council and their decisions regarding the zoo based on the report some of what I noticed seems alarming. Now I found the report very confusing but what I think it said was that the board will not be allowed to solely make acquistions and dispositions. Another motion is to set up an "expert" panel. Who are the experts? Several reasonable choices from vets to government agencies but very disturbing choices including Zoocheck and Bornfree Canada both of which dont like zoos. I fear this will not go well for the zoo. I mean heck if the city doesnt want the zoo let the zoo try to run itself! Sell it! Dont let people who want to shut it down bully their way onto a panel regarding the very thing they want to ban. They do not speak for all of us, heck they probably only speak for a very small fraction of people. Good luck getting AZA accreditation back with that set up. I dont like the idea of anti zoo activists making decisions about the animals and if they really are going to have a major say in things then I would absolutely back the AZA if it pulled all of its animals, ceased all breeding programs with the zoo and even refused to return animals Toronto has out on loans.

Now I could be mistaken with what Ive read, like I said I found it a little confusing. Being dyslexic I'm prone to interpreting things differently than others do so I would love to hear everyone elses thoughts. I hope Im wrong.

Agenda Item History - 2013.EX34.7
 
Another update that I forgot to mention is that the giant salamander exhibit is now filled with water, but there are still no animals on exhibit.
 
Oh good. If there is water in the exhibit now that must mean the animals are at least chilling in quarantine. Why waste the energy and water on an exhibit if you dont have the animals yet? Maybe they will be on display in the next couple of weeks.
 
I have a few questions about some of the zoo's smaller projects:

1) Does the zoo plan on reopening the walk through section of the kangaroo exhibit? The kangaroos always stay in the back of their exhibit which is hard to see without the walk through.

2) Is the Memorial Garden going to open at the same time as the rest of Eurasia? Also are there still plans to add a pheasant aviary in this section? The zoo already has monal and ring necked pheasants and it shouldn't be hard to acquire a few more species.

Even though everyone is excited about all the zoo's major new projects, I'm still interested in learning about these small things that many people don't care about.
 
I thought someone mentioned that the walkabout would reopen at some point. They just needed to build a new path and exit. It was in answer to a question I had during one of my visits this year... I cant remember who told me that. I hope it reopens in the spring. I want to have it opened for the same reason as you do.

You'd think they would finish the gardens at some point. That project seems like its been going on forever. Either finish it or call it finished and move on.
 
TZFan said:
Glad you had fun arcticwolf.

With regards to the city council and their decisions regarding the zoo based on the report some of what I noticed seems alarming. Now I found the report very confusing but what I think it said was that the board will not be allowed to solely make acquistions and dispositions. Another motion is to set up an "expert" panel. Who are the experts? Several reasonable choices from vets to government agencies but very disturbing choices including Zoocheck and Bornfree Canada both of which dont like zoos. I fear this will not go well for the zoo. I mean heck if the city doesnt want the zoo let the zoo try to run itself! Sell it! Dont let people who want to shut it down bully their way onto a panel regarding the very thing they want to ban. They do not speak for all of us, heck they probably only speak for a very small fraction of people. Good luck getting AZA accreditation back with that set up. I dont like the idea of anti zoo activists making decisions about the animals and if they really are going to have a major say in things then I would absolutely back the AZA if it pulled all of its animals, ceased all breeding programs with the zoo and even refused to return animals Toronto has out on loans.

Now I could be mistaken with what Ive read, like I said I found it a little confusing. Being dyslexic I'm prone to interpreting things differently than others do so I would love to hear everyone elses thoughts. I hope Im wrong.

Agenda Item History - 2013.EX34.7
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Truly disturbing news ... And yes the Council is not interested in TZ, it only wants its own talk uppers on the Board (hence the stupidity choice of Zoocheck and them ilk ..., experts my oh my ...)! Most of all the Council does not seem to want those with a critical opinion or an eye for zoo management / husbandry (since they also mistakenly decided that animal welfare was sending 3 elephants to an elephant sanctuary with a known TB problem and policy of non-open to the public ... ).
 
I just dont get why council wouldnt let the zoo try running itself independent of the city. I say let them try and if that works great the city doesnt have deal with the zoo any more. If they fail then I dont see how the city is any worse off. The zoo would learn to tighten its belt and how to raise more money on its own meaning less dependancy on the city for funds. The city clearly hates the zoo. Hopefully next years elections will see many of these ****** leave office and maybe the zoo will get treated more kindly.
 
The agenda has been posted for the next Board of Management meeting and includes some updates on construction projects. The highlights are:

- The zoo will be adding a zipline in the Tundra area that will run from the picnic area by the Caribou Cafe to the grassy field by Mayan Temple. While not going directly over any animal exhibit, the diagram shows it going over the path between the Arctic fox and Arctic wolf exhibit.

- Eurasia is scheduled to open spring 2014 and will have a themed gateway (somewhere close to Australasia?)

- The elephant house and exhibit will officially be renovated for giraffes with the designs already completed. It looks like they are hoping it will be ready for next summer. The demolition of the current giraffe house and construction of a new hoofstock house is also planned for next summer
 
adams7 said:
The agenda has been posted for the next Board of Management meeting and includes some updates on construction projects. The highlights are:

- The zoo will be adding a zipline in the Tundra area that will run from the picnic area by the Caribou Cafe to the grassy field by Mayan Temple. While not going directly over any animal exhibit, the diagram shows it going over the path between the Arctic fox and Arctic wolf exhibit.

- Eurasia is scheduled to open spring 2014 and will have a themed gateway (somewhere close to Australasia?)

- The elephant house and exhibit will officially be renovated for giraffes with the designs already completed. It looks like they are hoping it will be ready for next summer. The demolition of the current giraffe house and construction of a new hoofstock house is also planned for next summer
Click to expand...

The gateway to Eurasia is almost done construction. I saw it on my last visit to the zoo. It is located in between the wetlands area and the Australasia Pavilion.

The zipline seems like a cool idea that will hopefully make some extra money for the zoo. It's too bad that it doesn't go over any animal exhibits though.

I'm glad that the zoo plans on moving the giraffes by next summer. I still wonder if there are plans to include a feeding deck for the exhibit.
 
Im so glad the work is starting right away on the giraffes new home and that they might be in it by spring... I know reality is summer or fall but still progress is progress. As I've maintained for years now I want the feeding platform too. I want to feed a giraffe and darn it I'm going to get my way one day... I dont know where or when but I swear one day I will achieve my goal and feed a giraffe.

And with all that construction that means likely 2015 will welcome the new hoofed animal as prehaps the big summer draw. Anyone what to take some wild stabs at what animal we might get? For such a big space I would hope a couple of species. I'd like Bongos again but they dont really fit in the savannah. I could see the return of impala. Maybe Thompson's gazelle, gerenuk, or wildebeest. I dont think we would get anything flashy. Cape buffalo might be cool but I believe they are on phase out in favor of forest buffalo. Maybe another species of zebra? Mountain Zebras? Okapi would be amazing but I know realistically thats impossible, plus they wouldnt fit in the savannah even if you could source them. Its a fairly big space with lots of potential for a variety of options. I'd also like to free up space so I'd love to combine as many species as possible in the new giraffe exhibit. Zebras, Kudus, ostriches, sable antelopes, storks (if they can go with ostriches) and hornbills. Theres the space in that big exhibit. I want as mixed an exhibit as possible. Their old exhibits could be repurposed for other species that arent social or predatory. I could get my african wild dogs! The lions could have a better exhibit. Ok getting way off base... I know they wont do that. Boo! Ill just have to be content with one new species... at most 2.

The zip line is a cool idea. It will be going through a nice area. I'm not cool with heights but for those who are not enormous chickens like me it will be an amazing experience. And Arcticwolf of course they wont go over an exhibit. People cant be trusted not to try and unhook themselves over dangerous animals or not drop crud into the exhibits. Obviously I'm not talking about the majority of guests... Just the real bone heads who would then sue the zoo for letting them be stupid. You know the deal.
 
TZFan said:
I want to feed a giraffe and darn it I'm going to get my way one day... I dont know where or when but I swear one day I will achieve my goal and feed a giraffe.
Click to expand...

TZFan - go to San Diego Zoo or San Diego Safari Park. I've fed the giraffes at least a dozen times and the rhinos about half a dozen times. It's so much fun!
 
Kknudsen thats exactly my plan B if I cant feed our giraffes. Who am I kidding I want to go to San Diego Zoo and Safari Park anyway.
 
TZFan said:
Glad you had fun arcticwolf.

With regards to the city council and their decisions regarding the zoo based on the report some of what I noticed seems alarming. Now I found the report very confusing but what I think it said was that the board will not be allowed to solely make acquistions and dispositions. Another motion is to set up an "expert" panel. Who are the experts? Several reasonable choices from vets to government agencies but very disturbing choices including Zoocheck and Bornfree Canada both of which dont like zoos. I fear this will not go well for the zoo. I mean heck if the city doesnt want the zoo let the zoo try to run itself! Sell it! Dont let people who want to shut it down bully their way onto a panel regarding the very thing they want to ban. They do not speak for all of us, heck they probably only speak for a very small fraction of people. Good luck getting AZA accreditation back with that set up. I dont like the idea of anti zoo activists making decisions about the animals and if they really are going to have a major say in things then I would absolutely back the AZA if it pulled all of its animals, ceased all breeding programs with the zoo and even refused to return animals Toronto has out on loans.

Now I could be mistaken with what Ive read, like I said I found it a little confusing. Being dyslexic I'm prone to interpreting things differently than others do so I would love to hear everyone elses thoughts. I hope Im wrong.

Agenda Item History - 2013.EX34.7
Click to expand...

Perhaps this will confirm your fears:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151913456014588&id=118864269587
 
Has anyone read the comments yet below that post? How could anyone possibly think that people with these sorts of views could be of ANY benefit to the governing of a zoo? I feel sorry for the people at the Toronto Zoo who are actually educated, and now will have to deal with the soon to be (no doubt) ridiculous claims this committee will be making about the quality of the zoo. I don't understand why this is considered a smart move, let the zoo and the people of high education govern itself. Take a look at this comment that was made by someone: "I won't be happy until all the zoos are closed. I am also not happy about the opening of the new Ripley's Aquarium place in Toronto including that they have rare species. Have we not learned from our mistakes with the wonderful Marine Land? Shut them all down." This is the view-point of many people who support ZooCheck, what these people do not realize is the amount of true conservation work and research that zoos actually do.

It is sad, that the city council is so quick to cave into a little bit of pressure from someone who can talk so loudly.....Why not have someone focus on the benefits of zoos for one hour, there are hundreds! The same story over and over again with the same reasons as to why zoos are horrible is getting old.

Sorry for the rant! It just bothers me someday's when people try to talk about things when they start off being biased and never take a moment to really observe the benefits of both sides.
 
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