ZooBorns

Rare Southern Tamandua Born at Buffalo Zoo

A group of Southern Tamanduas was imported to the United States last August as part of an effort to bolster the population in US zoos.  A pair named Olive and Brutus were placed at the Buffalo Zoo.

Not much is known about the reproductive behaviors of this species, but Olive and Brutus had their first pup on April 7.  The male baby, named Otis, is strong, alert and very vocal.  

Photo Credit:  Kelly Brown

Zoo keepers report that Olive is a very attentive mother and though she is protective of her baby, she is calm around her keepers.  Every morning, the baby can be seen clinging onto his mom’s back as she makes her way down to the feeding pans for her breakfast. He has no problem letting mom know when she is not by his side!

Southern Tamanduas are native to much of South America, but they are becoming rare.  These ant- and termite-eating mammals are expert diggers, and are able to extract insects with their long tongues.

 

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Got Blubber? Seal Pup Packs It On

A Pacific Harbor Seal born at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is strong and healthy but needs to gain a layer of blubber before it can go on exhibit in a few weeks, according to its keepers.  The pup, a male, is in an off-exhibit area with his mother, eight-year-old Shila. 

A layer of blubber is important so the pup can regulate his own body temperature. 

Photo credit: Jesse Michener/Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

“Shila is showing wonderful maternal instincts,” zoo general curator Karen Goodrowe Beck said. “She’s pretty calm. She’s a great mom.”

The pups’ father is Q, a 14-year-old male who spent about a year at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on a breeding loan from the Seattle Aquarium. He returned to Seattle last month.

Right now the pup looks bigger than he is.  He weighs only 23 pounds, which is just 12% of Shila’s 180 pounds.  As an adult, he could weigh up to 375 pounds.

Pacific Harbor Seals are found north of the equator in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. On the West Coast, they range from Alaska to Baja California. They live in near-shore coastal waters and frequent rocky islands, sandy beaches, mudflats, bays and estuaries.  Pacific Harbor Seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

See more photos of the pup below the fold.

Fluffy Baby Camel Comes to Krakow Zoo

There’s a new addition in the Camel yard at Poland’s Krakow Zoo:  a female Bactrian Camel was born on May 15.

Photo Credit:  Krakow Zoo

Bactrian Camels are pregnant for about 13 ½ months.  Prior to giving birth, females remove themselves from the herd for a short time, which is a sign to zoo keepers that the baby’s arrival is imminent.  Females give birth every two to three years. 

Male and female Camels mature at different rates.  Females are mature by age three, while males don’t mature until they are five to seven years old.  Young males typically form bachelor herds, while females remain in the same herd as their mothers.

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Meet Tiergarten Delitzsch's Pot-bellied Piglet!

Tiergarten Delitzsch has a new mud-loving favorite: a fist-sized Pot-bellied Piglet. Born in late May, the piglet, whose sex is not yet determined, was the only one out of five to survive birth complications. Fortunately, the mother is doing well and is taking good care of her offspring. The week-old piglet has been ransacking mud puddles to its heart's content alongside its parents. 

Photo credits: Tiergarten Delitzsch

See more photos after the fold!

Potter Park Zoo's River Otter Pup Raised With Orphans as Sibling Trio

Michigan's Potter Park Zoo has announced the addition of three North American River Otter pups. Only one was born there, but all three will be raised together. Back on the morning of February 19, the zoo's Otter named Jilly gave birth to a single pup. Due to complications at birth, the pup, named Miles, is being hand-reared. His health improved drastically because of the quick action and continued care by Potter Park Zoo’s animal care staff. 

Then, in late April, zoo officials opted to adopt two orphaned Otter pups from Alexandria Zoo in Louisiana through the Species Survival Plan (SSP) of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). The siblings are named Bonnie and Clyde and were also born in February, so all three pups are the about the same age. Now Keepers and Vet staff are raising the three pups together. All three are energetic, playful and learning how to swim, and were just introduced to their exhibit very recently with their keepers all around them. 

Photo Credit: Potter Park Zoo

“Miles marks the first Otter pup ever to be born at Potter Park Zoo,” says Dr. Tara Harrison, veterinarian at Potter Park Zoo. “It worked out well to adopt Bonnie and Clyde shortly thereafter, because Otters are social animals and like to have friends to learn with.” 

Read more about the pups and see more pictures after the fold:

Tiny Slow Loris Twins Are a First for El Paso Zoo

El Paso Zoo is celebrating the first Pygmy Slow Lorises ever to be born at the zoo— healthy twins! The babies, born to zoo residents Steven Tyler and Kym Ly on April 26th, have not yet been named, but they have been identified as one female and one male. At birth, the male weighed in at twenty-five grams and the female weighed in at twenty-seven grams. For reference, twenty-five grams is equivalent to about 2 tablespoons of white sugar! The newborns were dwarfed by the stethescope as the zoo's vet listened to their hearts during their checkup. 

Photo credits: El Paso Zoo

Zoo staff worked with the mother, Kym Ly, using positive reinforcement training so that they could monitor her through the pregnancy. This kind of training uses cues and rewards to encourage the loris to engage in behaviors that make it easier for staff to care for her. Kym Ly learned many commands including how to hold steady for radiographs and exams and how to present her abdomen and mammary glands for checkups. This makes checkups easier and less stressful for the new mother. Staff are already helping the babies to learn how to climb on a branch to be weighed so that staff doesn’t have to touch them.

Learn more after the fold!

Endangered Przewalski's Foal Born at Denver Zoo

Denver Zoo celebrated the birth of an Endangered Przewalski's (sheh-VAL-skee’s) Horse foal, on the morning of May 31. The unnamed foal, whose gender is still not known, is not only the first birth for mother, Yisun, and father, Bataar, but also the first birth of its species at Denver Zoo since 1991. The foal is quietly exploring its yard under the watchful eye of its mother, but guests can see them both from the zoo’s main pathway.

The Przewalski’s Horse is considered the only remaining, truly wild horse in the world, and may be the closest living wild relative of the domesticated horse. There are a number of other wild equine species, including three species of zebra, and various subspecies of the African wild ass, onager and kiang.

Captive breeding programs, supported by zoos, helped keep this species from disappearing completely from the globe. Recent estimates indicate that there are now more than 300 in the wild and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies them as Endangered. Denver Zoo has a small herd, which helps support these efforts. This new foal is an exciting addition to the world population!

Przewalski’s Horses, also called Mongolian Wild Horses or Asiatic Wild Horses, once roamed throughout Europe and Asia. Today they are only found on reserves in Mongolia and China and in zoos around the world. The species was actually extinct in the wild for almost 30 years, before reintroduction projects began in the early 1990’s. The horses faced a number of threats that may have led to their extinction, including hunting, military activities and competition with livestock for resources.   

Learn more about Denver Zoo’s conservation programs at: http://www.denverzoo.org/conservation/fieldConservation.html

See more pictures after the fold:

Spectacled Bear Cub Ventures Outside For The First Time

A Spectacled Bear cub, born recently at Zoo Antwerpen in Belgium, ventured outside, into its enclosure for the first time. The youngster wasted little time exploring all the the exhibit has to offer, sniffing out every square inch and even bravely testing its claws by climbing the many trees in what it now calls home. The cub is making a name for itself as quite the daredevil and is already being called "a little rascal" its keepers.




Photo Credits: Jonas Verhulst / Zoo Antwerpen

The baby was born recently to mother Zamora and father Gladstone, and until now has spent all of its time in its den with Mum. Because of this, keepers have yet to be able to determine the sex of the youngster. However, this hasn't stopped them from getting a jump on the naming process. Keepers have selected three potential names if the baby is a boy (Olivier, Orson and Oberon), and three potential names if its a girl (Olivia, Ona and Onora). The public has the opportunity to vote for their favorite name here.

See and learn much more after the fold!

White Canadian Wolf Parents Have a Play Day with Their Five Pups

Whose little feet are those? They belong to one of the new White Canadian Wolf pups born at Berlin Zoo. On April 29, keepers noticed that the four-year-old Ava, who had been pregnant, emerged from the wolf cave looking considerably leaner. It was not long before five pups ventured out to be seen by staff and visitors alike. They sport their puppy coat of brownish spotted fur, but in time will come to have the magnificent white coat of their parents.

The Arctic or White Wolf inhabits the Canadian Arctic and the islands, parts of Alaska and northern parts of Greenland. All wolves in Canada are members of the species Gray Wolf (Canis lupus). Like those in the U.S., Canadian wolves can range from coal black to off-white in color, but most have a creamy white coat. The white hair shafts have more air pockets than those with pigmentation, therefore providing better insulation in a climate that at best is cool in mid-summer but can become absolutely frigid in the dark of their long winter.

Photo Credit: Berlin Zoo

Canadian wolves are usually larger than their counterparts in the United States, an adaptation that came about because the north has much larger prey, like caribou and moose, compared to the US wolves who feed on smaller mammals. Wolf packs tend to be larger in Alaska and Canada - up to 10 or even 20 animals per pack.

Sea Lion Pup Thriving at Prague Zoo

The Prague Zoo's Sea Lion collection recently grew by one with the birth of a little baby girl. The female, who is not yet named was born to mother Ababa. Weighing just 11 and a half pounds at birth, the pup is growing rapidly. She has put on two pounds to bring her weight up to a little under 13 and a half pounds. Just yesterday, Prague Zoo experienced major flooding which incapacitated the lower section of the institution. Zoo officials scrambled to relocate the affected animals. You can learn more about the flooding and find out how to help here and here.


Photo Credits: Anthony Vaidl / Prague Zoo

Sea Lions, a type of marine mammal, are found through much of the world's oceans through both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Sea Lions have an interesting reproductive cycle which lasts 12 months. After mating, there is 3-month delayed implantation followed by a 9-month gestation. Communication between mother and offspring is vital in this species. Large groups of female Sea Lions beach together to give birth. Females return to the sea to feed for extended periods of time leaving their pups to socialize with other infants. When they come back to land mother and offspring must be able to distinguish each other's calls from the rest of the pairs on the beach in order to reunite.

 

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