Baby Stripes!

There's a sweet new baby at Toronto Zoo and he's covered with stripes.
He was born on February 13 in the early morning hours. His mummy is Tori, an eight year old Grevy's zebra, and his daddy is Jake, an 11 year old male.
This foal has an older sister and brother..... Leia born in January 2014, and Rey born in July 2016.

There's a contest on the Toronto Zoo's facebook page to name the baby... name choices are "JJ", "TJ", "Chewy", "Obi".
Looks like the popular choice is "Obi" to continue with the Star Wars theme.
He is so definitely gorgeously absolutely CUTE!!!!!!
I loaded a different picture.... any better?

Finally Awake!

Last time I dropped in to Toronto Zoo to see the baby Giant Pandas, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, the whole family was fast asleep, but when I went early last weekend, the cubs were awake and active.

They were born on October 15, 2015, so they are 8 months old now. They were in their pen with their mother, Er Shun, who was concentrating on a breakfast of bamboo while the cubs rolled and wrestled and played with their dinner!

The adult Giant Pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, have been on loan to Toronto Zoo from China since 2013, and the whole family, including the two cubs, will move to the Calgary Zoo in 2018 for a 5 year stay.

The Evil Eye

This handsome gentleman was strutting about in the grounds of Toronto Zoo. I was walking by, minding my own business, and he started raising his tail feathers (properly called a "train"). I'm not sure if he was feeling aggressive, or perhaps feeling amorous, or possibly just showing off. I stayed well out of his way. But close enough to take a few pictures.

In some cultures, the peacock is honoured as the bringer of good fortune, and sometimes associated with royalty and glory. The "eye" is reputed to ward off evil spirits. The iridescent feathers are often used in jewellery and ornaments, and are associated with purity and pride.

My mum's opinions about peacock feathers were completely the opposite. She would never allow a peacock feather in the house. It was OK to have a peacock feather in the garden but woe betide anyone who dared to bring a peacock feather home. It was the "evil eye" on the feather, the bringer of bad luck. And not only simple bad luck.... misfortune, illness and even death. So, no peacock feathers ever crossed our doorstep. And I know it's only a superstition, but there are no peacock feathers in my house either! Just staying on the safe side.

And I had no idea that peacocks had such cute fluffy bottoms.

Giant Panda-monium!

I got up really early last Saturday on a mission to see the baby Giant Pandas and was parking the car at Toronto Zoo by 8:15am, as zoo members get to jump the queue and go in at 8:30, ahead of the crowd. No way I wanted to battle the Victoria Day long weekend crowds on a hot day. I was the first one into the Panda building to see them, but little Jia Panpan (Canadian Hope) and Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy) were fast asleep! Just my luck. Their mother Er Shun was napping too.

 So I went outside to have a chat with Da Mao, the daddy (presumably) but he had had a hard night and he was catching 40 winks too! He looks pretty relaxed.

So the next step was the inevitable Gift Shop, totally dedicated to all things Giant Panda.

No, I didn't buy any Giant Panda memorabilia, but I might go back to the zoo early one morning to see if the babies are awake. I'd really like to see them while they are still little and look like cute balls of fluff.

Private Juno

Juno is the Toronto Zoo's female polar bear cub. Juno was born on November 11 2015 to parents Aurora and Inukshuk. Aurora gave birth to twin cubs but sadly one did not survive, so little Juno spent her first three months in the maternity ward in the Wildlife Health Centre at the Zoo, just to be on the safe side.
As she was born on Remembrance Day, she was named in honour of Juno Beach, the name given to Canadian soldiers designated landing on D-day. She is now an honorary member of the Canadian Armed Forces, and holds the rank of Private. Apparently, she will get a promotion from the army on every birthday, so may eventually end up being General Juno. We'll have to salute her!

Here she is at 2 months old, just learning to walk.


She's just over 6 months old now, and I spent a long time leaning on the fence early this morning, watching her play with her toys. Here's what I saw.....

March Break

Last week was the annual school March Break, and our wonderful local library hosts a number of events to keep the kids entertained and the parents sane.
The keepers at Jungle Cat World arrived at the library with a selection of their animals to show the kids. First was a white umbrella cockatoo who loved to squawk and flap her wings and raise her crest. She was very affectionate and seemed to like having the children stroke her feathers.

Not all the animals were from other parts of the world. This furry black and white striped creature can be seen all around this area. Yes, I petted a skunk, never done that before! This young skunk had been "deskunked", much to everyone's relief.

However, not everyone wanted to take a chance.

 A fennec fox, at home in the deserts of the Sahara and North Africa. Adapted to the hot dry desert, they rarely drink, getting all the moisture they need from their prey. (BTW, that's a poster behind the keeper.)

African serval cat, predominantly found in Southern Africa. The keeper allowed adults to touch the cat's fur but kept the children away.

 And the last animal to be displayed.... a young lioness. She was eating from the keeper's hand.

The next day, a ventriloquising, juggling, unicycling magician was entertaining the kids. When he asked for assistants from the audience, Isaac waved his hand... Me, Me! He didn't get sawn in half or anything worse.... he merely had to hand the juggling clubs to the magician.

The following day we went to Toronto Zoo. As Zoo members we were entitled to see the twin baby Giant Pandas before the general public, however everyone else had the same idea (I should have known!) and there was a 1.5 hour wait to see them.  So we'll see little Jia Panpan (meaning Canadian Hope) and his sister Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy) next time. 

Panda-monium! (updated)

A break from travels in Europe to visit the Giant Pandas at Toronto Zoo.

Er Shun and Da Mao arrived on loan (an 8000 mile journey via FedEx MD-11F cargo plane) from China in 2013, and will be here in Toronto until 2018, when they are scheduled spend the next 5 years in the Calgary Zoo. But if a sweet little baby panda should arrive, those arrangements may change. Toronto Zookeepers are keeping their fingers crossed.

Er Shun - female Giant Panda. Born at the Chongquin Zoo on August 10 2007 and was raised by her mother. Her name means Double Smoothness.

Da Mao - male Giant Panda. Born on September 1 2008 at the Chengdu Research Base of Panda Breeding. His name means First of Mao.

Giant pandas diet is 99% bamboo, eating around 100lbs of bamboo a day, and at the zoo they are also offered biscuits, dog chow, apples and sometimes sugar cane or icicles as a treat. And something you've always wanted to know.... they poop about 40 times a day.

The fresh bamboo is shipped to Toronto by FedEx two or three times a week from the Memphis Zoo bamboo plantation.

Er Shun and Da Mao live in separate enclosures most of the time but they have met and investigated each other. Apparently Er Shun was more interested in making friends than Da Mao, who just wanted to go to sleep. Typical man! Giant Pandas only have one short reproductive cycle per year between March and May, and gestation is about 45 days. Newborn pandas are pink, no hair, and blind, and very tiny, weighing less than 200 grams. If twin babies are born, the mother only cares for one, so the keepers have to swap the babies between the nursery and the mother every couple of days.

It would be lovely to have a baby Giant Panda born here. I hope you have a naughty twinkle in your eye, Da Mao!

Update October 13 2015: Er Shun gave birth to TWO baby pandas this morning! Too early to congratulate Da Mao as Er Shun was artificially impregnated too.....