Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo History and Past (2008 and before)

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Shaboola is an african while rhino, and I wasn't born when Riverdale was around even when the TZ first opened. I only know what I have seen in pictures.
 
Wow ... lots of discussion on here!

Littlefootland had been in a state of decay since the (mid?) 1990s. The barn was converted to a bird holding and was closed to the public, and eventually all of the domestic stock were phased out. In 2000, the only animal exhibits in the area were the old aviaries. A new play area was put in (sponsored by Saturn, I believe) in the late 90's, but otherwise is was quite run down.

The bird show (and the bleachers now in Eurasia) used to be in an open area just behind the sand pit in the new kids zoo (prior to that, this area was the summertime outdoor Australian exhibit).

Rockybudgeboa, your thoughts are echoed by many people (visitors and staff). In the past few decades, both the species diversity and number of animals at the zoo has declined. This is, in part, due to more structured breeding programs for many species (with space issues for surplus animals being a limiting factor). Costs are probably a big factor too. This trend has been seen across many zoos in North America ... great herds are rarely seen any more. In some cases, the decrease in diversity has allowed for other enclosures to be expanded, improving the lives of the animals still at the zoo - the current mandrill exhibit springs to mind. In the original pavilion, half of the exhibit had Patas monkeys and the other half (separated my the moat) had DeBrazza's monkeys. The mandrills had their own exhibit by the gorillas. When the pavilion was renovated, the gorilla space was enlarged to (essentially) take over the mandrill area, and the two smaller monkeys were moved so the mandrills could have use of both exhibits ...

Shaboola is the only white rhino at the zoo; she currently has a foot problem and is being held off exhibit while it is treated. Unfortunately, even when she does go out, she often stays up by the gate to the house ... where she is all but invisible to visitors (except for perhaps an ear twitching).

Chimps: a few may have been housed at the zoo in the 1970s, but I don't think they were ever on exhibit. The gorillas have been at the zoo since it opened. As to why the zoo doesn't have both chimps and gorillas ... cost, space, and similarity springs to mind.

I suspect they were carp that you could feed from the bridge. The fish are still in the waterway - they are especially visible at the bridge between Australasia and Tundra, but feeding them can be problematic for the health of the waterways.

I visited the site of the Riverdale Zoo (now Riverdale Farm) many times when I was a kid. A few old zoo buildings still exist on the grounds ...
 
Thank you Ungulate for the clarification. Have you heard any news in the zoo? ie. construction, animals?

Sorry I should have posted this in other threads.
 
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Ungulate said:
Wow ... lots of discussion on here!

Littlefootland had been in a state of decay since the (mid?) 1990s. The barn was converted to a bird holding and was closed to the public, and eventually all of the domestic stock were phased out. In 2000, the only animal exhibits in the area were the old aviaries. A new play area was put in (sponsored by Saturn, I believe) in the late 90's, but otherwise is was quite run down.

The bird show (and the bleachers now in Eurasia) used to be in an open area just behind the sand pit in the new kids zoo (prior to that, this area was the summertime outdoor Australian exhibit).

Rockybudgeboa, your thoughts are echoed by many people (visitors and staff). In the past few decades, both the species diversity and number of animals at the zoo has declined. This is, in part, due to more structured breeding programs for many species (with space issues for surplus animals being a limiting factor). Costs are probably a big factor too. This trend has been seen across many zoos in North America ... great herds are rarely seen any more. In some cases, the decrease in diversity has allowed for other enclosures to be expanded, improving the lives of the animals still at the zoo - the current mandrill exhibit springs to mind. In the original pavilion, half of the exhibit had Patas monkeys and the other half (separated my the moat) had DeBrazza's monkeys. The mandrills had their own exhibit by the gorillas. When the pavilion was renovated, the gorilla space was enlarged to (essentially) take over the mandrill area, and the two smaller monkeys were moved so the mandrills could have use of both exhibits ...

Shaboola is the only white rhino at the zoo; she currently has a foot problem and is being held off exhibit while it is treated. Unfortunately, even when she does go out, she often stays up by the gate to the house ... where she is all but invisible to visitors (except for perhaps an ear twitching).

Chimps: a few may have been housed at the zoo in the 1970s, but I don't think they were ever on exhibit. The gorillas have been at the zoo since it opened. As to why the zoo doesn't have both chimps and gorillas ... cost, space, and similarity springs to mind.

I suspect they were carp that you could feed from the bridge. The fish are still in the waterway - they are especially visible at the bridge between Australasia and Tundra, but feeding them can be problematic for the health of the waterways.

I visited the site of the Riverdale Zoo (now Riverdale Farm) many times when I was a kid. A few old zoo buildings still exist on the grounds ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the explanation, its to bad they moved the patas, debrazza and colobus monkeys as it would have been nice if they had kept them and just mixed debrazza/colubus/gorilla and mandrill/colobus so that they had more species but saved space (colobus/red river hog is another idea it they meshed over/escape proofed the indoor/outdoor exhibits and added climbing structures)
 
Fine idea, Zoogoer2000 :) Again, thanks for the info, Ungulate.

More blasts from the past! These old pictures are incredible. Fennec Foxes! Black-necked Swan! The tortoises! Some of them are from African Lion Safari as well.

Toronto Zoo - a set on Flickr

eBay slide scans (I've seen the cheetah and single lioness one used as a postcard, who's scans I've also put up here):

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/BtbSgwBmkKGrHgoH-D4EjlLl0WegBKduesI.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/btbtjqwkkgrhgohd8ejlllc.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/BtbU3gBmkKGrHgoH-DwEjlLlfO9BKdue65G.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/BtbWDQBWkKGrHgoH-DkEjlLly2R-BKdufBE.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/Btbrg2kKGrHgoH-EEEjlLlLvtBKdufJq3h_.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/BtbZMw2kKGrHgoH-C0EjlLlu15ZBKdufQuv.jpg
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/MeaghanE/BtbeBWkKGrHgoH-CoEjlLl2U9BKdufdDvQ_.jpg
 
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Those photos are amazing Meaghan, thanks :)

Many of the exhibits seemed to have had a few little renos here and there over the years (fur seal exhibit, leopards to red pandas, the dhole exhibit)
 
You're very welcome :)

I noticed that too -- and some exhibits look the same, like the Grizzly Bear one. The alligators are still on the small side, but they looked tiny there!

I remember the Wood Ducks, I believe my dad took a picture of one.
 
Wow great pictures! The animals look so small! When they were all young!!
 
With the TZ rolling for 35 years there have been many animals coming and going. Here is a link to an article about the oldest zoo residence.

TheStar.com | living | Still grazing after all these years

They claim there are 14 animals who are they?
1) Iringa (African Elephant)
2) Tara (African Elephant)
3) Toka (African Elephant)
4) Marg (Demoiselle Crane)
5) Ozzie (Emu)
6) Harriet (Emu)
7) Monty (West African Dwarf Crocodile)
8) Charles (Western Lowland Gorilla)
9) Samantha (Western Lowland Gorilla)
10) Josophine (Western Lowland Gorilla)
11) Puppe (Sumatran Orangutan)
12)
13)
14)
Those are some of the animals I think belong on that list!
 
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What a great article! I believe the alligators are also originals. I think they're about 40 years old.

Not as old, but some other old timers are Rowdy the lion, who is 17, and I believe the original female Greater Kudu and Impala were adults when they were put on display in 1998. There's also Blue Jay the Grevy's Zebra who was born in either the 80s or late 70s, and Teriyaki the White-faced Saki Monkey who's up there in the years as well.
 
I was also thinking about the Orangs, but I don't know.
 
Yes, some of those are originals too, I believe, although they may have passed away (Dingding, and the female who passed away a few years before he did were originals). I *think* the remaining ostrich is an original, or close to an original. Asha the Indian Hornbill (my favorite bird at the zoo) is another.
 
Great list Quartz

Just one to add to the list is Puppe the orangutan

Dinging was brought to the zoo in 1975/6

Blue Jay was born in 1977
 
I have added Puppe to the list but am unsure about the others suggested. Hopefully Ungulate can add to it. I do recall talking about this in the past but can't find the posts.
 
Officially - at least, technically - there are only seven "original" zoo animals that have lived at the Toronto Zoo since it opened to the public on August 15, 1974. They are:

1. Gorilla "Josephine"
2. African elephant "Tara"
3. Orangutan "Puppe"
4. Demoiselle crane "Marg"
5. Royal python "Percy"
6. Dwarf crocodile "Monty"
7. Nicobar pigeon (no name, male) - he actually arrived at the zoo on the same day as Marg the crane

The fourteen animals mentioned in the article have lived at the zoo since 1974 (close, but not - in my eyes - the same thing). The other seven are:

8. Gorilla "Charles"
9. Gorilla "Samantha"
10. African elephant "Toka"
11. African elephant "Iringa"
12. Emu "Ozzy"
13. Emu "Harriet"
14. Nicobar pigeon (again, no name)

The hornbills Jonah and Aasha are both older (36 and 41), but they did not arrive at the zoo until the 1980s/90s. The alligators are both less than 30 years old, and arrived in 1987. Other true original animals (now deceased) that you might remember are "Bull" the white rhino and "Chinny" the fur seal.
 
Thank you for the info on the originals Ungulate and thanks for the pictures Meaghan!

Lol, the people who took the "female orangutan" picture got mixed up with gorillas by the looks of it (The old gorilla and wallaby exhibits look radically different!)
 
Thanks for the info Ungulate. We had leopards? I know we had the Chinese ones but those arn't them are they? and yea that orang picture was a mix up.
 
Yes Quartz, those are definitely the chinese leopards

Did the chinese leopards ever breed at Toronto Zoo?
 
Ungulate said:
Officially - at least, technically - there are only seven "original" zoo animals that have lived at the Toronto Zoo since it opened to the public on August 15, 1974. They are:

2. African elephant "Tara"
Click to expand...

Are you 100% sure on that? My research shows that Tara (along with Tessa and Tantor) didn't technically arrive until Aug 30th, two weeks later.
I mean sure, it's still the same month. But if you want to get REALLY technical about it... I'm just sayin'. ;-)
 
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