ZooBorns

Marmoset Twins Cling Close to Mom

These tiny twins are the newest addition to the Pygmy Marmoset family in Houston Zoo's Natural Encounters rainforest. Weighing in at about a half ounce as babies, marmosets are the smallest monkey in the world.

Orphan Orangutan Smiles for the Camera

Two weeks ago we brought you pictures of baby Kali at the Kansas City Zoo. The little female orangutan had been abandoned by her mother but found a happy life with new surrogate mom "Jill." Today we check back in on baby Kali who is reportedly doing great.

 

Quite a yawn

Baby Baboons Bounce into North Carolina

Two baby Hamaydryas Baboons were recently born at the North Carolina Zoo. With 19 baboons and counting, the NC ZOo has the largest troop of baboons in the United States. In the wild, baboon troops can range from 5 to 250 members. 

Not so fast

 

 

Stepping out with mom

 

Dinnertime

Hanging out with the gang

Photo credits: Tom Gillespie / NC Zoo

Baby Menari Photos by Life on White

Life on White is a Belgian team that has photographed over 469 different animal species, all on white backgrounds. This week they photographed baby Menari, the new orangutan at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, and were kind enough to share the incredible photos. Enjoy.

 

Menari is the Audubon Zoo's first baby orangutan in 13 years and her name means "dance" in Indonesian

Baby Gorilla Needs a Name

The Toronto Zoo is asking for the public's help in naming its newest little gorilla born September 2. Mom's name is Ngozi and dad's is Charles... so may we suggest "Narles" or "Chgozi?" Actually those are both terrible names.  We're sure you can do a better job than we did. Submit your suggestions here!

Cheeky Orangutan at Dortmund Zoo

Germany's Dortmund Zoo clearly has a charismatic little orangutan on their hands. These pictures were taken just last week.

Photo credits: StephanieSL 

Goma the Gorilla Turns 50!

Tomorrow Switzerland's Zoo Basel celebrates a remarkable birthday. Goma, the first gorilla ever born in a European zoo, turns 50! Unusual for the time, Goma got tremendous press in 1959 during her first year, and today we share some of these classic photos. 

It should be noted that unlike zoo born gorillas today, Goma spent the first years of her life almost entirely with zoo staff. While this made her exceptionally close with humans, it made it difficult for her to enter gorilla society and it took many years for her to find her place with her fellow great apes. Today as a result of gorillas like Goma, zoos go to great lengths to ensure that their animals are comfortable with their own kind.

Baby Chimp Makes Her Debut at OKC Zoo

For the first time, visitors to the Oklahoma City Zoo have the opportunity to meet baby Zoe, a female chimp born all the way back in October, 2008. Sadly, Zoe's biological mother died shortly after her baby's birth. Lucky for Zoe, OKC Zoo staff provided round-the-clock surrogate parent care, even wearing a hairy vest to simulate a mother chimp, until a nurturing and protective surrogate chimp mother could be found. 

 

More to the story below the fold.

Another Visit with Menari the Orangutan

While these pictures were taken around the same time as the last round of Menari photos we brought you, we couldn't resist sharing this second set from the Audubon Zoo. Known for their remarkable intelligence, Sumatran Orangutans like Menari are critically endangered in their native habitat.

The Original Sleep Number Bed

Born August 29th, this tiny, lanky baby Siamang sprawls out on his mother Haddie's tummy at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. A type of gibbon, Siamang are known for their unique "duets," where male and females each have a distinct part of a "song" they bark back and forth to one another across the jungle for up to 25 minutes.