Since opening its doors in 1978, the Minnesota Zoo has been a champion of tiger conservation – supporting efforts in the wild and playing a prominent role in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Amur tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP).
Continue reading "The Tigers Born On Mother’s Day At The Minnesota Zoo Have Been Named!" »
The Minnesota Zoo is excited to announce the birth of six North American beaver kits. The kits were born on June 9. The kits and their parents, named Randy and Gina, are all doing well. We expect the kits to emerge from their beaver den sometime next month.
With its white stripes and spots, unmistakable nose, and affinity to play in the water, there's not much is cuter than a baby tapir.
The @Minnesota Zoo is excited to announce a baby Malayan tapir will be making his debut over the coming days in the Zoo’s tapir habitat along the Tropics Trail. The tapir was born at the Zoo on August 8 and has been spending his first month of life bonding behind the scenes with his mother, Bertie. He has been receiving additional care, including help learning how to swim, from our team of zookeepers and animal health experts. The baby male tapir still needs a name – and you can help! Vote on your favorite name at this link: https://mnzoo.org/tapir/ All of these names have connections to the native area of Malayan tapirs.
Voting will close on Sunday, October 4, and the Zoo will announce the winning name on social media on Monday, October 5. In addition to encouraging you to vote for your favorite name directly at MNZoo, ZooBorns is asking fans to tell us your favorite name in the comments below. We'll submit the single most popular name to Minnesota Zoo on fans' behalf. As the baby tapir continues to acclimate to his habitat, he will be visible more and more in the coming days and weeks. Be sure to stop by the tapir habitat along the Tropics Trail to see if he’s out exploring.
The Minnesota Zoo is thrilled to announce the birth of an endangered Malayan Tapir calf. The little female, named Indah, was born on January 6 after an approximately 400-day gestation period and weighed-in at 16 pounds.
According to keepers, the new calf and mom, Bertie, are doing well. This is the Minnesota Zoo’s third tapir birth in 6 years. The new calf is also one of only 37 tapirs that are currently housed in zoos across North American.
The little one is bonding with mom behind the scenes. Until she goes into the public tapir habitat along the zoo’s Tropics Trail, she can be seen via the Minnesota Zoo’s social media channels and a special webcam.
Photo Credits: Minnesota Zoo
The Malayan Tapir's gestation period varies from 390-419 days. Mothers usually give birth every 2-4 years to a single calf, and twins are rare. At birth, a calf weighs approximately 10-20 pounds. For the first 6-8 months of their life, tapir calves resemble furry watermelons with legs. They are dark brown to black with alternating bands of yellowish-white stripes and spots. Young tapirs grow quickly and can weigh as much as 450 pounds at one year of age; they reach adult size in 2-3 years.
“We are very excited to welcome this new tapir to the Minnesota Zoo. Malayan Tapirs are endangered and this birth is a significant conservation achievement, as it’s estimated that fewer than 1,500 exist in the wild. The recent success we’ve had with tapir births over the past six years is an example of the incredible care our zookeeper and veterinary teams provides our animals,” said Tropics Trail curator, Tom Ness.
Malayan Tapirs (Tapirus indicus) are one of the most endangered animals in Southeast Asia. Their population is declining due to road mortality, habitat loss from deforestation for agricultural purposes (palm oil), flooding caused by dam building for hydroelectric projects, and illegal trade. The public can help wild tapirs by shopping smart for sustainable palm oil.
In human care, Malayan Tapirs are managed for breeding purposes by a Species Survival Plan (SSP), which, through the coordinated efforts of several zoos throughout North America, helps maintain a backup gene pool for the future aid of the wild population. The Minnesota Zoo currently participates in many SSP programs, including the one for the Malayan Tapir.
The Minnesota Zoo is excited to welcome a new male Puma kitten, named Landslide, to their Medtronic Minnesota Trail exhibit.
“We are excited about giving our guests a chance to see this energetic young male Puma kitten on the Minnesota Trail,” says Tom Ness, curator for the Tropics and Medtronic Minnesota Trails. “We take our mission to save wildlife very seriously here at the Minnesota Zoo and we are so grateful we are able to provide him with a great home.”
The male Puma kitten was found orphaned after a landslide in NE Washington earlier this spring and was initially cared for by the Oregon Zoo. He made the journey to his new home at the Minnesota Zoo in early May, and Zoo veterinarians have been caring for the kitten behind the scenes to ensure he is healthy and stable. The young Puma was scheduled to finish his last round of kitten vaccines last week, and vet staff and zookeepers report he is thriving in his new home.
Photo Credits: Tyler Birschbach/Minnesota Zoo
This is the second successful Puma (kitten) public debut for the Minnesota Zoo this year. An older Puma, named Sequim, that was also orphaned and rescued as a young kitten outside the Port Angeles, Washington area, made his public debut along the Medtronic Minnesota Trail earlier this year. The Medtronic Minnesota Trail is also home to several other rescued animals such as: three Black Bears, five Gray Wolves, a Bald Eagle, a Porcupine and more.
The young Puma will be on-exhibit daily from 9 am until approximately 1 pm. He will rotate exhibit time with Sequim.
Puma is a genus in Felidae (Felis concolor). Probably due to their wide range across North and South America, Pumas have multiple names they are known by, including Cougar and Mountain Lion.
Pumas can run up to 43 mph, jump more than 20 feet from standing, and leap up to 16 feet straight up.
Although they can make a wide range of cat noises (hisses, growls, purrs), Pumas cannot roar. Instead, they are known for their distinctive “scream-like” calls during mating, but are often extremely stealthy and go unheard.
Although they have been pushed into smaller habitats by human settlement expansion, members of this genus have been formally classified as “Least Concern” by the IUCN. Their success in the wild, thus far, is due to their adaptation to changing habitat conditions.
A newborn endangered Amur Tiger cub has been reunited with her mother thanks to the work of keepers at the Minnesota Zoo.
The female cub was born on April 26 and removed for hand-raising when Sundari, a first-time mom, wasn’t showing the necessary level of care for her baby. Although the tiny cub needed immediate feeding by zoo staff, they did not give up on their goal of keeping mom and baby together. Sundari just needed a little encouragement.
Photo Credit: Minnesota Zoo
Keepers repeatedly showed the cub to Sundari through a protective barrier over several days. When Sundari showed no signs of aggression toward her cub, keepers successfully reunited the pair.
So far, mom and cub appear to be bonding, and the staff closely monitors the cub to make sure she is getting enough milk. Keepers still provide supplemental feedings to ensure the baby’s health.
Mom and baby will remain behind the scenes while the keeper staff monitors their health. The zoo has set up a special webpage that will soon include a live web cam to view the new Tiger cub.
This is the first offspring for mother, Sundari, who was born at the Minnesota Zoo in June of 2012. Father, 7-year-old Putin has sired two other litters in Denmark, where he lived before coming to the Minnesota Zoo in 2015. Putin was brought to the Minnesota Zoo as a recommendation of the Amur Tiger Global Species Management Plan, which is co-coordinated by Minnesota Zoo staff. He is the most genetically valuable Amur Tiger in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Tiger Species Survival Plan® (SSP), underscoring the zoo’s groundbreaking efforts to reunite this cub with her mother. Coordinated by Minnesota Zoo staff for more than three decades, the Tiger SSP recommended Sundari and Putin as a breeding pair.
Continue reading "Tiny Tiger Cub Reunited With Mom at Minnesota Zoo" »
The Minnesota Zoo recently welcomed two orphaned Puma kittens to Apple Valley, MN.
The brother-sister pair was found in late October just outside the Port Angeles, Washington area by a local resident and rescued by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife before making the journey to Minnesota. Based on the kittens’ condition, officials were confident their steps at intervention were needed and that the mother was not returning to care for the pair.
“We are happy to provide these kittens with an excellent home to thrive here at the Minnesota Zoo,” says Tropics and Minnesota Trail Curator, Tom Ness. “These kittens are a great addition and we look forward to introducing them to our guests once they are healthy and strong enough for their habitat along the Minnesota Trail.”
Photo Credits: John Oakes/ Minnesota Zoo
The male kittens weighed in at 13 pounds when he arrived, while the female was 11 pounds. Both kittens have grown considerably since their arrival and are currently behind the scenes for a mandatory quarantine period, where they are receiving constant care from the Zoo’s veterinary team before making their public debut along the Medtronic Minnesota Trail sometime later this year. The Medtronic Minnesota Trail is also home to several other rescued animals such as: three black bears, five gray wolves, a bald eagle, a porcupine and more.
Puma is a genus in Felidae (Felis concolor). Probably due to their wide range across North and South America, Pumas have multiple names they are known by, including Cougar and Mountain Lion.
Pumas can run up to 43 mph, jump more than 20 feet from standing, and leap up to 16 feet straight up.
Although they can make a wide range of cat noises (hisses, growls, purrs), Pumas cannot roar. Instead, they are known for their distinctive “scream-like” calls during mating, but are often extremely stealthy and go unheard.
Although they have been pushed into smaller habitats by human settlement expansion, members of this genus have been formally classified as “Least Concern” by the IUCN. Their success in the wild, thus far, is due to their adaptation to changing habitat conditions.
Three African Penguin chicks have hatched, so far this season, at the Minnesota Zoo.
When the eggs first hatch, keepers at the Minnesota Zoo weigh the chicks to ensure the parents are feeding them properly. The three chicks that hatched in December are steadily gaining weight—a testimony to the good parenting they are receiving!
Photo Credits: Minnesota Zoo
The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is a species confined to southern African waters. It is widely known as the “jackass” penguin for its donkey-like bray.
Like all extant penguins it is flightless, with a streamlined body, and wings stiffened and flattened into flippers for a marine habitat. Adults weigh, on average, 4.9 to 7.7 lbs (2.2 to 3.5 kg) and are 24 to 28 inches (60 to 70 cm) tall. It has distinctive pink patches of skin above the eyes and a black facial mask; the body upper parts are black and sharply delineated from the white under parts, which are spotted and marked with a black band. The pink gland above the eyes helps the penguins to cope with changing temperatures. The African Penguin is a pursuit diver and feeds primarily on fish and squid.
They are monogamous and breed in colonies, returning to the same site each year. The African Penguin has an extended breeding season, with nesting usually peaking from March to May, in South Africa, and November and December in Namibia. A clutch of two eggs is laid either in burrows dug in guano, or scrapes in the sand under boulders or brush. Both parents undertake incubation equally for about 40 days. At least one parent guards the chicks until about 30 days. After that, the chick joins the crèche with other chicks, and both parents head out to sea to forage. Chicks fledge at 60 to 130 days and go to sea, on their own.
Once extremely numerous, the African Penguin is declining due to a combination of threats and is currently classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Population declines are, according to the IUCN, largely attributed to: food shortages (resulting from large catches of fish by commercial purse-seine fisheries) and environmental fluctuations.
Pumpkins are everywhere, this time of year! They make great pies, Jack-O-Lanterns, and pretty awesome enrichment toys for zoo animals. Happy Halloween from ZooBorns!
Photo Credits: Tammy Spratt/San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Image 1: African Lion Cub); Amiee Stubbs Photography (Image 2: "Charlie" the Porcupine at Nashville Zoo); Lincoln Children's Zoo (Image 3: "Lincoln" the Red Panda); ZooAmerica (Image 4: "Rainier" the Mountain Lion); Zoo Vienna Schönbrunn (Image 5: Elephants); Sue Ogrocki (Images 6-Gorilla,7-Red River Hogs,10-Galapagos Tortoise at Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens); Minnesota Zoo (Image 8: Lynx); The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (Image 9: Meerkats)
More great pumpkin pics below the fold!
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The Minnesota Zoo announced the birth of this Malayan Tapir calf, the first born at the Zoo in more than 20 years. The newborn, a female, came into the world at approximately 9:15 p.m. on July 20, after a 419-day gestation period. Mom, Bertie, and her calf are doing well and are currently off-exhibit together, giving them time to bond. But you can watch them on the zoo's Tapir Cam.
The Malayan Tapir is one of the most endangered animals in Southeast Asia. Tapir populations are declining due to habitat loss from deforestation for agricultural purposes, flooding caused by dam building for hydroelectric projects, and illegal trade.
Photo Credit: Minnesota Zoo
Watch the baby and mom in action:
Read more after the fold.
Continue reading "Minnesota Zoo Welcomes First Baby Tapir Born in Twenty Years" »