Toronto Zoo Toronto Zoo Master Plan 2022

According to the Animal Plan, the zoo was looking into starting an Artificial Insemination (AI) for both Caribou and Moose.

It mentions that they're looking at working with MNR and Federal Herds, like Environment Canada, in generating interest and approval for Caribou AI. The zoo wants to explore the same with Moose, but at the time of the Animal Plan, no live imports were available.

This makes me wonder if this is partly why we see both Moose and a second Caribou exhibit in the Wilderness North. These could be factors taken into consideration for the Master Plan. Also, I realized that the exhibit for the old Barbary Apes is shown as exhibit space to be used, but no animal assigned to this space. So, there are plenty of possibilities there for Grizzlies or something else.
 
Live posting from the meeting! Woo hoo!

Cougar (Bailey) is in the Wildlife Health Centre and not doing very well. The zoo will likely soon be without Cougars. Not permanently, but for the next little while.

Indian Rhino (Asha) is still not doing great, but they are working diligently to figure out what is wrong.

All three cheetah cubs are doing great!

Orang habitat is on track for a late spring opening. Let’s continue to keep our fingers crossed!

Orang exhibit funding is fully secured! A huge win for the new wildlife conservancy! At the March board meeting, we will hear about a huge bequest! Fingers crossed that is related to the entrance or some of the exhibit expansions!
 
I liked the immediate caveat that the Orangutan habitat would be open in spring, then a clarification it would be "late spring", but he still doubled down on spring!
 
@Zooer I agree that was amusing!

The only other things I really have to add are the fact that the brewery, hotel and daycare will all be parternships (split funding/revenue generation), and that the new saving species centre will be externally funded.

Conservation campus phase 1 will come a lot sooner than many of us think, which is exciting! And we should be looking at the plan as a 25 year plan with each item being revisited when the funding is secured, so the details will be hammered out then (species/sustainability/cost/etc.).
 
I found it more interesting what they didn't speak about versus what they did. A lot of time was spent on context setting and mission (which makes sense) and then the "buildings" portion (such as entrance & hotel, Savannah pavilion, nutrition space/restaurant, Gorrilland - which really was just refurbishment of the pavillion, exotic species rescue, brewery, and daycare).

But no discussion on Wilderness North (other than one passing disparaging comment on the Domain), nothing on the Safari mix or jaguar buildings, and nothing on gondola/monorail. When there was a question on the "camping" and how to monitor it, Dolf gave some context away when he thought this wasn't going to happen in the next 10 years, so they had some time to plan.

The one area I was hoping to hear a little more about were these 360 tunnels. They made a passing comment that these were successful at other zoos. I figure if anyone knows this - it'll be this group. Can anyone think of examples where this has been done? I think it's great in concept - but I imagine in reality there will be a lot more of empty spaces that rarely get used when visible to the public and searching for animals in exhibits. I can't imagine that you would want some of these species interacting in these small enclosed quarters - so it means "one" tiger across a wider area. Doesn't it?

I know right now they maintain the 6 orangutans in 4 groups right? If they have a lot more space, will they suddenly try to keep more of them together or with the ability to move around exhibits if they so chose to do so?
 
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@animalman0341 That's a shame to hear Bailey's probably getting ready to go even if it isn't unexpected. Felicia's been gone for a while and I'm surprised he hung on as long as he did without her. Without cougars there'll be even less reason to visit the Domain.

Here's hoping Asha pulls through, I really don't want another Ena situation on our hands. Losing Asha would be an absolute tragedy.

At least the cheetah cubs are doing well, that's good news! Hope we learn the genders soon, judging by the weights they posted not too long ago I'm guessing two girls and a boy.

Awesome, they hit the funding goal for the orangs! Late spring sounds like they're aiming Victoria Day weekend but with the TZ being the TZ I wouldn't be surprised if they needed a little more time to get it ready. At least we know we'll be seeing it this year barring any more complications.
 
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Managed to sit in on the Board meeting as well. It was neat to see. One piece of information I want to note is the Dolf mention that even though this is considered a 25 year plan, it's something that will be revisited every 10 years. This is one of the reasons why there are no hard dates for project completion.

@animalman0341, the Master Plan mentions that all those projects are to be partnerships. This allows the zoo the opportunity to host those venues while being able to rely on the expertise of their partners to provide information on running that venue.

@Zooer, I wasn't expecting much talk on specific exhibit based projects. It almost seemed like they only really mentioned Gorilland because its main purpose is to address AODA conerns of the pavilion. Everything else mentioned are projects that require a partnership. When you think about it the Board is more concerned around things project that would require external funding through partnerships, because everything else is going to be internally funded through fundraising and donations.
 
@Zooer, very true points. I think the benefits of grizzlies out weight the detractions. Yes they are expensive to feed. Yes they are off display all winter. Yes their exhibit will be expensive. BUT... People love them. They have true education value. They are an iconic Canadian species. They are relatively easy to get and long lived. They can be part of the talk on climate change with them drifting further north and putting pressure on polar bears. They can be part of the talk on preservation of natural spaces. I could go on.

We need to remember anything can happen between this moment and when they finalize plans for Wilderness North. All it takes is a few strokes of a pen and everything can change.

@cypher, our moose girls are too old to even hope AI will be successful on. They are actually considered elderly now even though they really arent that old compared to other species. Just a short lived species.
 
We may have elderly Moose now, but that doesn't mean they still aren't looking into possibilities for the future. Always a chance they'll want Moose around for future program for research. it'll be interesting to see what comes in the coming years, when the elderly animals pass away in the Domain. Will there be replacements, or will they hold off?
 
Oh sorry I meant we have elderly moose right now so AI was unlikely at this point. I probably didnt make myself clear.
 
Okay, I got you now. I wouldn't expect them to start that kind of research on elderly Moose. Kind of a waste of resources.

I'm no expert with Caribou, but I wonder if future plans in have some requirement of having 2 exhibit spaces for the animals. Of course, this is entirely speculation.
 
@cypher, exactly why waste the time and money on two moose who are so unlikely to conceive or have a healthy calf. They should have engaged in this when their father Elliot died. They would have had 3 cows to work with. Mom Ashley would have been less likely to produce but both girls would have been of prime age.

If the future caribou plans did need 2 exhibits I would like to point out there are about to be 3 massive and one decent sized hoofstock exhibits available when the domain closes. Dont waste time and money doubling up in visitor space. The domain could easily become home to secondary herds who are not reared around people. It would be the prime space to have the herds whos calves are being prepared for release to wild herds. They could be left as wild as possible. The herd in Tundra Trek could be for display with occasional calves born who are intended to stay on at a zoo or let some of the calves be raised there by mom and spend more time down in the wilder herd before release to make them less tame. But that's just my thought on how to manage herds so calves are more easily able to adjust to the wild. Then the secondary exhibit for them is available for another species. If we are thinking about another conservation program we could have a whole breeding facility there for whooping cranes with some surplus cranes on exhibit and more wild cranes behind scenes bringing up chicks for release. They need less space so that option sounds more reasonable if release of the offspring is the goal rather than caribou. Plus most of us would be happy that its not a single pair in Tundra Trek.
 
I'd like to see a renewed Animal Plan that falls more inline with this Master Plan. The Animals Plan is where we'd get some more answers to animal selection and reasoning. The thing is, I'm not sure if we'll see that, or if there are plan to renew the Animal Plan on a regular basis, as animal changes can come about yearly.
 
@cypher Yeah honestly that was my first thought after reading the Master Plan was that all this sounds cool but I'm really more interested in seeing how all this has changed the last Animal Plan. I'd really like to know if the grizzlies are leaving or if the tur are staying or what have you based on what this plan has announced.
 
I agree it would be interesting to see an updated Animal Plan. The current one doesn't take into account what they have decided to do. If you fix the hippo house does that mean we keep the river hippos now? They may have found no one will take them. But could be part of the plan to go pygmy hippo in the area. Who knows really at this point. A new animal plan might clarify several of our key questions.

Plus I would also like see who has passed that we dont know about.
 
I think the retrofit of the Hippo house to to house other animals. I don't think we'll be seeing the River Hippos stay, unfortunately. A new Animal Plan would give us a better idea, but until then, we can only really go with what we have.
 
I am responding to this thread without reading through it entirely yet

The Master Plan was presented Feb 14th 2022 so if someone has already posted the links here apologies in advance

If not maybe OP can edit 1st post in thread to add links

LOTS to digest, I have been looking through the full official document and blogTO has some commentary on what they consider the big changes

Agenda Item History - 2022.ZB20.2

The Toronto Zoo is getting a brewery and yurts for overnight stays in huge revamp
 
My opinions

A Savannah Pavilion is really not worth it. Most of the popular animals in that area are larger (Rhino, Zebra, Giraffe who currently use the old Elephant house, Cheetah). An indoor area for those animals would need to be large and... why? New for the sake of being new?

A far better use of resources is a second America's Pavilion. Could slot it between current America and Maya Waterfall. Have one building for North America and one for South America. Tons of potential animal choices, many smaller ones like birds / reptiles / mammals who do not require huge enclosures. Plus current America Pavilion is a bit long in the tooth and building a new location would facilitate it's renovation as well.

For outdoor animals I would love to get back the Seals, Tapir, Gaur. Animals like that which are interesting to look at, are somewhat cold resistant, and (to best of my knowledge) not so difficult to care for.

Eurasia could probably reduce it's footprint since so few animals, which would free up space for an outdoor North American area. But I do think some animals (eg Grizzly) can stay in Canadian domain (he hibernates and they close the area to give him quiet).

Kid's Zoo area and Tundra Trek have multiple empty enclosures as well which should be better utilized.

As well, I know Zoo made a big deal about WiFi, and maybe I am just older generation but why??? To me was a total waste of $$$ and last thing the Zoo needs is more Pokestops or YouTube streamers seriously....
 
@kav2001c, nice to see someone else provide their opinions on the Master Plan.

The Savanna Pavilion does have worth in a couple ways. The biggest one being if gives the animals more room to roam during the winter. My understanding on it is that it won’t replace the current barns that are not accessible to the public. So, with this Pavilion, instead of having all Rhinos in the barn, they can be spread out between the barn and the pavilion. Plus, it offers the public to see these animals (Zebra, Rhino, Eland, and possibly the Kudu) to be seen during the winter months. There’s also the rooftop viewing which could be a interesting vantage point in the summer months. So it’s not just for the sake of being new. It betters public engagement and more importantly, animal welfare.

I agree with you on the American Pavilion. I’d much rather see them utilize that large empty space to build something amazing. I love the idea of breaking up the north and south American animals. Just makes sense. Renovate the current America’s Pavilion, and fill it with North American animals, then build a new South American Pavilion to showcase the tropics.

I was never the bigger fan of the Gaur, but I did hate the exhibit they were in. Build a better exhibit for them and maybe it would sway me. I’d love to see the Tapir and Seal return as well. But the question is, in this Master Plan, where would you put these animals if you had the choice?

I don’t think they need to reduce the size of Eurasia, as it is for more of the planned Wilderness North. Better utilizing the space in Eurasia is some thing I’d prefer. The Dr. Schofield Memorial Garden needs a redo. With the plan to decommission the Canadian Domain, I don’t see a point in leaving the Grizzly down there. Bring them up where everyone can enjoy them.

Yes, both Tundra and the Kid’s zoo need help.

WiFi can lead to a lot more than just people contacting to the internet for free. With new system integration staff can benefit just as much, if not more than visitors. Plus, the zoo plans on developing an app that can also come into play with wifi.
 
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