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Showing posts with label Toronto Zoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto Zoo. Show all posts

Saturday 15 April 2017

Bunny Rabbit Hare

Black Bunny.
  1. Lop-Eared Rabbit
  2. Bugs Bunny
  3. Flemish Giant Rabbit
  4. Arctic Hare
  5. Lionhead Rabbit
  6. Rabbit Balloon
  7. Tortoise & Hare
  8. Cute Bunnies
  9. Chocolate Bunnies
  10. Eastern Cottontail
  This Easter weekend we thought it would be a good time to take a look at our top 10 bunny encounters.  Here they are in no particular order.

1 ) Lop-Eared Rabbit
Lop-Eared Bunny.

A friend of ours used to care for a very cute lop-eared bunny.  A lop-eared bunny is a bunny whose long ears hang (we guess you could say lop) down.  You will notice all of the other bunnies in this blog post have ears that stand straight up or sit back on top of their heads. 

2)  Bugs Bunny
What's Up Doc?

One of the all-time favourite bunnies is Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes cartoons.  He is among a short list of animated characters to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The outline drawing of Bugs Bunny (above) was in the Warner Brothers Studio's Museum.

Bugs Bunny's Star.

3)  Flemish Giant Rabbit
G'Day Big Bunny.

From Bugs Bunny we go to Big Bunny.  A Flemish giant rabbit can weigh up to 10 kg and grow to about 30 inches long.  It is one of the largest domesticated rabbits.  The bunny above was at the Toronto Zoo for a short time and shared an enclosure with the wombats and wallabies.  Perhaps it had outgrown its previous living space.

4)  Arctic Hare
Arctic Hare.

While we were in Churchill, Manitoba we spotted this hare just across the road from our lodge.  While it may not be the smartest thing to do in polar bear territory at night, we headed outside to try and get a closer look.  Luckily, he stood still long enough for us to get the picture above.  It took us some time to determine if this was an arctic hare or a snowshoe hare as both inhabit Churchill. We read about one having bigger feet or ears than the other.  Some reports said that one has bigger eyes or fluffier fur.  We made our determination by the black on the ears.  As far as we can tell arctic hares (like this one) have black just on the top tip of their ears while snowshoe hares have a black edge that may cover the tip, but runs further along the ear as well.


5)  Lionhead Rabbit
Roar!

A lionhead rabbit is bred to have a mane around its face like a lion.  They end up looking like little balls of fur with ears. We wondered how they can even see where they are hopping.  When taking pictures, the bunny below did flash us a look from beneath all that fur just to let us know he was in there. The lionhead above is from Prickly Ball Farm and the lionhead below is from Far Enough Farm.

Lionhead Rabbit.

6)  Rabbit Balloon
Silver Bunny.

Artist Jeff Koons had a piece of his art appear in Toronto's Nuit Blanche 2009.  It was simply named Rabbit Balloon.  It featured a giant shiny silver bunny that was floating inside the Eaton Centre.  This bunny also once floated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2007.

7)  Tortoise & Hare
Boston's Tortoise & The Hare Statue.

In Boston's Copley Square is a sculpture of a tortoise and a hare.  It was installed as a tribute to runner's of the famous Boston Marathon. It is based on the popular fable of The Tortoise & the Hare. The fable tells the story of a rabbit who was so confident in his ability to outrun the tortoise that during a race he ran ahead and took a nap.  While he napped the tortoise passed by heading for the finish line.  The hare finally awoke and tried to catch up, but it was too late.

The Hare.

8)  Cute Bunnies
Grey White Bunny.

We think that all rabbits are cute.  There is something special about a tiny bunny that you can pick up and hold in your hands while it sits quietly twitching its little nose.  These cuties are from the Toronto Zoo kid's section and from Jungle Cat World.

Grey Bunny.
Cute Dans Le Fruit.

9)  Chocolate Bunnies
Teuscher Truffle Bunny.

Chocolate shaped like eggs is good.  Chocolate shaped like bunnies is good.  This bunny above is a box from Teuscher Chocolates and hides a chocolate truffle in its belly.  We like chocolate.

10) Eastern Cottontail
Backyard Bunny.

The one rabbit that we have encountered the most is the eastern cottontail.  Actually we have eaten more chocolate bunnies and watched more Bugs Bunny cartoons than we have had encounters with eastern cottontails.  Let's try that again.  The eastern cottontail is the wild rabbit that we have encountered the most.  Sometimes when you least expect it you look out into the yard and there is one munching away on something.  Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail!



Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Australasia Pavilion) , Toronto Zoo (Kids Zoo) , Jungle Cat World Wildlife Park , Prickly Ball Farm , Lazy Bear Lodge , Far Enough Farm
Teuscher Toronto
Tortoise & Hare , Eaton Centre
Hollywood Walk of Fame

Post # 171

Monday 20 March 2017

Polar Bear Enrichment & Training

Conserving The Polar Bear

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Rd.
Date: March 2017
Website: www.torontozoo.com

  February 25th 2017 was International Polar Bear Day.  We attended the Toronto Zoo that day.  Specifically we attended a talk by the Torono Zoo's polar bear keepers and Dr. Martyn Obbard, a polar bear researcher.  Dr. Martyn Obbard talked about how the increasingly shorter season of sea ice is making life harder for the bears.  The bears rely on the sea ice to go out and hunt for seals.  Without the sea ice, the bears do not get enough to eat. Dr. Obbard worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and his research has helped us understand what we can do to help the bears.  Conservation of polar bears requires not only several Canadian provincial and territorial governments working together, but several countries as well.  Polar Bears can be found in Canada, Greenland, Norway, USA and Russia.

Toronto Zoo's Polar Bear Family.

  The zoo keepers also talked about their experience working with the polar bears.  The three most recent polar bear babies were all offspring of Inukshuk and Aurora.  Hudson and Humphrey just recently returned to the Toronto Zoo and Juno was leaving the week after International Polar Bear Day.  The keepers talked about enrichment and training of the bears.  One lucky person at the talk would win a chance to see a polar bear training session.  Guess who won?


  We attended the training session a few weeks later.  The training sessions make it easier for the keepers to administer medication, to give the bears a checkup and to move the bears around the exhibit.  Our training session was with Nikita.  The keeper used different hand signals and a whistle to ask the bear to perform a task.  Each success was rewarded with either a handful of meat or fish.  When the keeper made an open hand motion Nikita opened her mouth.  When the keeper tapped a wooden stick against the fence, Nikita would touch it with her closest hand.  When the keeper pointed to a target, Nikita would go over and touch her nose to the target.  The children that attended the training with us were very impressed with how well Nikita performed.  Finally, one big fish and the training was completed for the day.  Good work Nikita and good work to all of the people helping polar bears in the wild.

Click here to take a virtual tour and see our (almost complete) collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Tundra Trek)

Post # 168

Thursday 5 January 2017

Toronto Zoo's White Lion Pride

The White Lion King.

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Rd.
Date: Jan 2017
Website: www.torontozoo.com

  The four white lions born at the Toronto Zoo in 2015 were part of a baby boom. They were all males and have the colour mutation, like their parents, that makes them rare.  The Toronto Zoo is one of only a few zoos in North America where you can see white lions on display.

White Lions. Blowing Through My Mind.

  The Toronto Zoo has seven white lions, but very soon the four brothers will be leaving. We visited one last time to say goodbye to Hank, Harrison, Oliver and Gus.  The whole family was outside huddled together for a family portrait.  Only their mother couldn't sit still to pose for a good photo.

White Lion Around.
Sunny Day.  Sleeping The Day Away.

  Aside from their colour, white lions are just the same as regular African lions.  This means they like to sleep in the sun on a hot summer's day and are no more susceptible to sunburn than other lions.  The Toronto Zoo has both white and regular lions that take turns sharing the display so this means that you will see different lions on different days.  White lions also tend to be more of a beige colour so it can sometimes be difficult to tell which lions you are seeing.

A Typical Male.

Above is a picture of a regular African lion male for comparison.
Below is a male white lion.
 
White Lion Male.

  We enjoyed our last visit with the white lion cubs and it was great to see all of the brothers together one last time.  Soon they will be off to start prides of their very own.

The Four Brothers.
 Farewell Young Lions.


Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
 Toronto Zoo (Lion House)

Post # 154

Friday 30 December 2016

Canada Lynx

Canada Lynx.

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Rd.
Date: Nov 2016
Website: www.torontozoo.com

  A Canada lynx is a medium sized cat which closely resembles a bobcat.  The easiest way to tell a lynx and a bobcat apart is that lynx have longer legs and their back legs are actually longer than their front ones.  They appear to be on a bit of a slant when running or walking.  Like most large cats they are beautiful to look at, but scary to come across in the wild.

Lynx Giving A Look.

   We have only ever encountered lynx at the zoo as it is very rare to see one in the wild.  The Canada lynx above was at the Toronto Zoo and may be one of the parents of the two babies that were born in 2016.

A Canada Lynx Dressed For The Weather.

  Canada lynx can be found throughout Canada as well as in the northern United States.  The lynx above was from the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg and was already wearing his winter coat which made him look twice as large.

A Pair of Lynx Parents.

  In 2016, the Toronto Zoo was lucky enough to have two lynx kittens born at the zoo.  The Canada Lynx can be found in the zoo's Canadian Domain on a very steep hill that goes down into the valley.  The lynx are one of the first animals on the way down the hill for those that fear they may never make it back up if they venture down to the bottom.

Lucky Lynx Rabbit's Foot.

  When we visited, the babies were already about 3 months old.  They were still as cute as ever.  A Canada Lynx's favourite meal is snowshoe hare.  As you can see from the picture above, this baby lynx has already developed a taste. 


The video above shows the babies walking around and giving wide eyed looks.

Where is that sibling of mine?

  We visited again when the lynx kittens were about 7 months old.  The two kittens loved to play fight and chase each other around the enclosure.

Lynx Twins.
Lynx VS Lynx.

  The Canada Lynx usually prefers a quiet, solitary life and likes to stay hidden.  While these two juveniles are in the exhibit it is a great time to see these animals in action.

 Another Lynx Look.


Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
Assiniboine Park Zoo (Grasslands & Boreal Forest) , Toronto Zoo (Canadian Domain)

Post # 153

Sunday 10 April 2016

Toronto Zoo Baby Boom

Panda Growth Chart.

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Road
Date: Mar 2016
Website:  www.torontozoo.com

  Lions and rhinos and bears!  Oh My!  The Toronto Zoo is currently in the middle of a baby boom.  During our latest visit to the zoo we were able to visit their eight newest arrivals.  There are 4 white lion cubs, 1 polar bear, 1 Indian rhino calf and 2 giant panda cubs all now on display for public viewing.

The White Lion Cub Club.

   The first to arrive were the four white lion cubs.  They were born in September 2015 and are all males.

White Lion Cub chews on a leaf.
 White Lion Cub.

  White lions have a gene mutation that causes them to have lighter hair, but they are not albinos.  The four cubs at the zoo are named Gus, Hank, Harrison and Oliver.  

White Lion Brothers.

  Like most wild animals they are growing rapidly and it will not be long until these babies are as big as their parents.

Getting Bigger Every Day.

    Below is a video of the boys playing and Mom keeping control while she still can.




Meet The First Giant Panda Cubs Born In Canada.

  On October 13, 2015 the Toronto Zoo welcomed the first giant panda cubs to ever be born in Canada.  There was one boy and one girl.  They were kept under special watch and 24 hour care as they grew bigger and bigger.  The public was waiting patiently and finally in March 2016 the panda babies were named and we were given a chance to see them in their nursery.

Jia Panpan.

  The male panda is named Jia Panpan which means Canadian hope.  He has round black fur around his eyes.

Jia Yueyue.

  The female panda is named Jia Yueyue which means Canadian joy.  She has black fur that points like a diamond towards her eyes.

Panda baby hiding behind a tree.Brother & Sister.

  While we were visiting, Jia Yueyue was asleep in a fenced off area.  It wasn't long until she woke up again.  This area might have contained her when she was a bit smaller, but now she was able to make her escape.

Panda baby sleeping.
To Freedom.

  Below is a video of the panda babies being fed, exploring their enclosure and playing together.




Juno the baby Polar Bear.

  On November 11, 2015 a little baby girl polar bear was born.  Her name is Juno and she has even been adopted into the Canadian Army and given the rank of private.  The Toronto Zoo has had polar bear babies before such as Humphrey and Hudson, but this is the first female that we can recall.

Juno looks around.
Juno's Pillow.
 Juno Gives A Look.

  There is something about her face and behaviour which makes it easy to determine that she is a girl.  We have seen her both outside as well as inside her little house playing with her toys.

Juno's House Full Of Toys.


Indian Rhino Baby.

  The last to arrive was a baby Indian rhino.  He was born in February 2016 and when we visited him he was only five weeks old.

Mom watches over her baby boy.

  He looked so small and fragile compared to his mother, but if he charged at you be sure to get out of the way as he already weighs over 200 pounds.

Indian Rhino Smile.

  At the time of our visit the rhino baby did not yet have a name.  Another thing it does not yet have is its horn.  A baby rhino is born without a horn, but it starts to grow right away.  That is one more thing for Mom to be thankful for as she nurses and cares for her baby..

Mom & Baby Rhino.


Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Lion House) , Toronto Zoo (Giant Pandas) , Toronto Zoo (Tundra Trek) , Toronto Zoo (Indian Rhino)

Post # 106