Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Future Developments 2014

Yes, I believe it is. All animals in the Domain will be moved to the Canadian Wilderness revamp, when it happens.

Also, welcome to the ZooChat forums.
 
Dont worry about missing that little tidbit of information Arcticwolf. I have missed tons of things like that in the past while just scanning articles. He could just be miss informed. I did find an old article about them. Samson was orphaned in Anchorage in 1998 and Shintay was orphaned in the Yukon in 1999.

More than wildlife at the zoo

TZ4life, from what little info there is on the Canadian Wilderness it seems everything in the Domain will move up to be situated between the Dhole and Barbary Ape exhibits in Eurasia and Tundra Trek. The otters and beavers will also move over there, with some of the other North American animals from the America pavilion joining them. The Americas pavilion will be converted eventually to a strictly South American area. But thats all just theortical until a new 25 year master plan is finalized later this year, and even then a lot could change between rough ideas on a master plan and the final product. The Canadian Wilderness will likely be the next major project given the age and condition of the Domain's structures and enclosures.

And TZ4Life welcome. Always nice to have another Toronto Zoo fan.
 
Thanks for sharing that article TZFan. I think grizzly bears are the only brown bear subspecies in the Yukon, which means that Shintay is for sure a pure grizzly bear. There are many brown bear subspecies that can be found in Alaska, so Samson could possibly be a Kodiak/grizzly hybrid like I had been told.
 
Being wild born orphans it could be just a guess as to what Samson is. Unless they did a DNA test to see what he is, and considering he was never going to breed why would they go to the expense, they can't know for certain what his parents were. Maybe they know what his mom was because they might have found her body but his father would be a mystery.
 
I guess Samson's subspecies will remain a mystery. I do think that he's not a pure grizzly because of his enormous size, which is why I think he must have some Kodiak in him.
 
Well I would go with the answer you have received the most often from keepers. They are probably the most qualified to make an educated guess.
 
Just found out for the old elephants enclosure they are renovating and transferring it for the Masai Giraffes. Wonder what they're going to put in the giraffes space.
 
TZ4LIFE the zoo plans on bringing in a new hoofstock species. Apparently the design plans for a revamped exhibit are done, just not released, so they know what they are getting or hope to get. I wouldn't expect them to say anything until much later in the year, possibly early next year. They will want everyone focused on the opening of the Eurasian Wilds and the new giraffe exhibit. If they stay on their expected construction schedual... we all know how that goes... then the demo and rebuild will be done by the end of the year with the animals likely being the big spring summer push for 2015. But that is always subject to change.

So the short answer is some kind of African savannah, scrub or maybe desert animal with hooves. There are a couple of good contenders but unless a keeper who is in the know spills the beans accidentally we wont know for several months at least.
 
Wildebeests would be one of those contenders.

The zoo recently got rid of its duikers or dik diks (I can never keep that straight). Probably within the last two or three years. I would't count on their return.

And the space is so big that I think it will be a larger animal.

Personally I think the wildebeests, addax, gerenuks or a mix of gazelles would be the best bet. I would love Bongos returning but they just dont fit in that area.
 
The zoo had black duikers in the current wattled crane exhibit. They're much too small to put in the giraffe exhibit unless they were mixed with another larger species.
 
Thanks arcticwolf. For some reason I always confuse dik diks and duikers... probably the D and K just mess me up. I know I could have looked it up but decided one of you would correct me.
 
Board items are up for the next meeting.

Theres a marketing report which while dry at times is interesting to see how the zoo has tried to create a buzz about itself in the past couple of months.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68617.pdf

Both attendance reports simply said babies are good for attandance.

The strategic plan update says the new planners have worked with Columbus Zoo, Denver Zoo and Cleveland Zoo on their strategic plans. Based on some of whats going on at those place we could be getting very lucky.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68569.pdf

The zoo just got its largest bequest ever. A $2 million donation! I hope thats put directly towards the orangs or health center to get things moving.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68644.pdf
 
Board items are up for the next meeting.

Theres a marketing report which while dry at times is interesting to see how the zoo has tried to create a buzz about itself in the past couple of months.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68617.pdf

Both attendance reports simply said babies are good for attandance.

The strategic plan update says the new planners have worked with Columbus Zoo, Denver Zoo and Cleveland Zoo on their strategic plans. Based on some of whats going on at those place we could be getting very lucky.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68569.pdf

The zoo just got its largest bequest ever. A $2 million donation! I hope thats put directly towards the orangs or health center to get things moving.

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/zb/bgrd/backgroundfile-68644.pdf

That's all great news.

I'm so happy that the zoo has found people to make its strategic plan and based on the other zoos they've worked with, they should be pretty good.

Also a two million dollar donation is amazing! I really hope it goes towards new exhibits.
 
I hope the firm incharge of the strategic plan can do for Toronto what they have done for the others. Naturally its a different zoo in a different place with different challenges so we will see what they come up with. Based on their time table it seems like we could find out some time around the end of the year.
 
Wow. $2 million. I wonder if the zoo will explain how that money will be used. It's be pretty cool to know.
 
Hopefully they will formally announce something when how to spend it is decided so they can acknowledge the donor's generosity and thank the family.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if a building or something is memorialized with the donors name. Like the Health Centre, or section of the Health Centre being named after the individual.
 
Or they could name an animal who will be staying a long time after the person... like the new sea eagle, female Eurasian Eagle Owl, one of the clouded leopards... I can't think of anything else new that should be here a long longe time. Perhaps a future orang baby if the money goes to them?
 
Hmm? Usually in these situations, a building or section of a building is named after a donor. Naming an animal after someone usually happens when an owner or high level employee wants to name the animal after a relative.
 
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