Your Guardians of Wild are proud to share that overnight on Monday May 13th, three-year old snow leopard Jita gave birth to two cubs after a 97-day pregnancy.
Jita and her new cubs are NOT currently visible to guests visiting the Toronto Zoo, but updates will be shared in the days and weeks to come about how and when guests will be able to view these little snowballs.
TORONTO, ON, Friday December 29, 2023: Sometimes the best gifts come following the holiday season! In the case of Toronto Zoo, they were delivered an extra special one: a white rhino calf!
At 7:58 am yesterday morning, Thursday, December 28th, Toronto Zoo was thrilled to welcome white rhino Sabi’s first calf to their Zoo family! While every rhino pregnancy is exciting, Sabi’s was especially so. Following her arrival in Toronto in 2012, hormone monitoring performed by Reproductive Science team identified that Sabi exhibited "long" estrus cycles (~70 days in length, compared to the typical ~30 days of fertile females), which have made conception a significant challenge for her. Following continual adjustments in daily care and diet, Sabi’s behaviour in spring 2022 suggested that her hormonal cycles had switched from the long cycles to the typical cycle length. The likelihood of successfully conceiving for the first time drops with age in many species, including white rhinos, and Zoo staff were keenly aware of this with Sabi. Your Toronto Zoo Wildlife Care and Reproductive Science teams were thrilled that the breeding introductions with white rhino male Tom in summer 2022 were successful. This is the second calf sired by the 15-year-old rhino. His first calf, Theo, was born December 24, 2017, and left Toronto in late 2021.
TORONTO, ON, Friday, May 5, 2023: Your Toronto Zoo is heading into this sunny weekend with some exciting news: we have a newborn baby camel! Suria, an eight-year-old Bactrian camel, gave birth to a female calf yesterday morning. This is Suria’s second calf and although Suria is an attentive mother, the initial stages of nursing have been challenging. Wildlife Care and Wildlife Health staff were prepared for this initial hurdle and have several strategies in place to help ensure positive outcomes for both mom and calf.
Toronto, On, Friday, February 24, 2023: They Say It Takes A Village To Raise A Child…But What About A Four-Week-Old Baby Fruit Bat? At Your Toronto Zoo, The Wildlife Care Team Has Been Working Closely With The Veterinarians And Nutritionists To Hand Raise A Bat Pup And It Might Be The Sweet Start To Your Weekend You Didn’t Know You Needed!
Toronto, Canada (August 3, 2022) – If you have visited Toronto Zoo’s Canadian Domain recently, you’ve probably noticed some very special additions – three wood bison calves! Born the week of June 20th, there are two females and one male. These three little calves are quickly becoming a visitor favourite as they follow the much larger adult females around the paddock, peeking out behind their mothers’ legs.
What makes these little ones extra special is the innovative reproductive techniques that enabled Toronto Zoo to deliberately produce females!
How can Toronto Zoo choose whether to have females or males?
At one-month-old, Toronto Zoo’s newest orangutan was becoming more alert to his surroundings, including making eye contact with the Wildlife Care team. Mom Sekali participated in regular training sessions and was comfortable bringing the baby up to Keepers and allowing them to use a dropper to place Vitamin D drops directly in his mouth. Once this behaviour was completely established, Keepers planned to introduce a baby bottle; this could be helpful in the future if they need to give the baby Pedialyte or medications in a liquid form, or if supplemental milk is required.
TORONTO, ON, Friday, May 27, 2022: Your Toronto Zoo is excited to reveal the names of our #FlamingHotCheetahs! With almost 10,000 votes cast, it was a relatively close race, but the winning group was Toulouse, Berlioz and Marie – named after the kittens in Disney’s Aristocats animated film! A big thank you to everyone who participated! We love including the community in special moments at your Toronto Zoo.
Toronto Zoo's newest Mom and baby continue to do well behind-the-scenes and he nurses often throughout the day. The other orangutans are fascinated by the new arrival, and Sekali continues to seem content to show him off
Please note Sekali and her baby are not currently viewable at this time. We will make an announcement when they are ready to make their public debut.
Your Toronto Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, born Friday April 8 at 3:06 p.m. to mother Sekali. The day prior to the birth, Sekali was exhibiting signs of restlessness and discomfort. Keepers monitored her closely overnight and although she seemed to settle down and looked comfortable, it was noted that her eyes were open for a much larger portion of the night than usual. The morning of April 8, keepers noticed Sekali was showing increasing signs of discomfort, and her water broke at 11:30 a.m. Things progressed smoothly right through to the baby’s birth. Sekali’s maternal instincts kicked in right away: she immediately held the baby against her body, cleaned it, and showed concern whenever it vocalized. She even carefully repositioned the umbilical cord when shifting positions and thanks to the maternal training provided by Keepers, Sekali brought the baby up to the Keepers to let them get a close visual check a few hours after it was born – and identify the newborn as a male!
This is the second offspring for twenty-nine-year-old Sekali, who gave birth to her son, Kembali, in 2006, and the first offspring for Budi, a fifteen-year old male. Both Sekali and Budi were born at the Toronto Zoo (to unrelated parents) and were paired at the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Orangutan Species Survival Plan (SSP). This cooperative breeding program, coupled with direct support of conservation work in Sumatra, is part of the Toronto Zoo’s commitment to ensure this critically endangered species will survive for future generations. The Toronto Zoo currently houses the only Sumatran orangutans in Canada and, as part of the AZA Sumatran Orangutan SSP, thirteen orangutans have been raised at your Toronto Zoo since 1974.
This adorable footage was posted by the Toronto Zoo about 3 weeks ago, when the cubs (first appearing on ZooBorns in January: https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2022/01/your-toronto-zoo-welcomes-birth-of-cheetah-cubs.html ) were still too small to reliably sex. Until they are fully vaccinated and the weather warms up, the new family will remain cozy in their indoor habitat. As they grow and get stronger, they will gradually be introduced to their behind-the-scenes outdoor habitats, and eventually to the main cheetah habitat where you will be able to see them later this spring.
Since the time of this video, The cheetah cubs have received their first full examination from the Veterinary team! We are excited to announce that they have two boys and one girl!