ZooBorns

Cincinnati's Lynx Babies

Two Eurasian lynx were born March 26th at the Cincinnati Zoo to parents “Birk” and “Nahlin”. The Eurasian lynx is uncommon in U.S. zoos and the Cincinnati Zoo is excited to be home to the newest additions. ZooBorns is proud to welcome the pair as the first of their kind to be featured on our site.

Photo Credits: (top: David Jenike and the Cincinnati Zoo, bottom two: Connie Lemperle and the Cincinnati Zoo)

The Zoo has also welcomed a baby, takin, okapi, golden head lion tamarin, a Bennet’s wallaby, galapagos tortoises, an Angolan python, a green tree python, and MORE... All these ZooBorns can be seen at the Zoo's "Zoo Babies" event which runs from May 9th to May 24th.

Tiny Tamarins at the Hogle Zoo

Utah's Hogle Zoo had a Mother's Day surprise when "Puddles," the golden lion tamarin gave birth to twins late this past Saturday night. An endangered species, there are estimated to be only about 1,000 individuals left in their native Brazil. 

The babies cling tightly to mom's back as you can see below (look carefully).

ZooBorns Need Mothers Too #3

Even within the safety of a zoo exhibit, mothers provide comfort and a sense of security that has no substitute. Weighing under a pound, this tiny Francois' langur baby was born April 29 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Watchful mom "Petunia" instinctively keeps the little bundle of unmistakable bright orange swaddled in her furry arms and legs. 

 

ZooBorns Need Mothers Too #2

Animal moms can be patient with their troublesome little ones. Vicky Milway caught this little Warty Piglet taking a catnap right on Mom's back at England's Chester Zoo.

ZooBorns Need Mothers Too #1

Maternal affection and contact is essential for newborn mammals to thrive. While many of the young animals featured on ZooBorns are orphans and keepers must step in, many more have doting natural mothers like baby giraffe calf "Margaret Abigail," photographed earlier this week with mom at the Bronx Zoo.

When mom's lucky, sis and grandma help out (pictured below)

Photo Credits: Julie Larsen Maher @ WCS

Second Aye-Aye Ever Born in North America

Aye-aye's are primitive primates native only to Madagascar like their lemur cousins. Highly endangered, the Denver Zoo's new baby aye-aye is only the second ever born in North America and the first conceived in North America.

Photo credits: Dave Parsons, The Denver Zoo

This video is definitely worth watching

The world's largest nocturnal primate, the aye-aye's strange looks and habits have led local villagers to consider them bad omens and kill them on site. However, aye-aye's are gentle creatures that use their long fingers to extract ants, termites and other insects out of holes in trees.

A Litter of Lion Cubs in Virginia

After a 110 day pregnancy, the Virginia Zoo welcomed four healthy little lion cubs this past Saturday. These pictures were taken on Monday at only two days old and keepers still do not know the sex of the kitten quadruplets.

Kee the Orphan Manatee

Baby “Kee,” found orphaned in the Withlaccoochee River in Florida arrived at the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo in April 2009.  Weighing only about 50 pounds and estimated to be just a few weeks old, she is one of the smallest orphans ever treated at the Zoo’s hospital, and was considered to be in critical condition.  

 

She is receiving 24-hour care including night feedings, and has had some ups and downs as she continues to adjust to formula.  Animal care staff has paired the baby with a large adult female (or cow) named “Pneuport” (name is a combination of her injury and the city near which she was found).  The baby and cow have reacted very positively to one another, often seen nuzzling and sleeping together, and the baby will sometimes swim on the cow’s back.  The keepers report that Pneuport is very sweet and attentive, acting as a mother figure, although unable to feed the baby.  

Because these photos don't show the whole little guy, we have also included this video of another baby manatee taken in 2008 at the Lowry Park Zoo:

Baby Gorilla Meets His New Mom

Raised by keepers since birth in December, experts at the San Francisco Zoo decided to introduce baby Hasani to his new surrogate mom, Bawang, yesterday. After a few cautious hours, the two got along wonderfully as you can see in this touching video. 

 

ZooBorns has been following little Hasani since he was just 9 days old. Here's a reminder.

Surrogate gorilla mom Bawang has raised three offspring of her own and has proven to be a outstanding mother. Keepers noted that Bawang's handling of Hasani was very gentle and clearly demonstrated her natural maternal instincts kicking in.

Baby Bradypus Sloth at Aviarios Sanctuary

The Aviarios Sloth Sanctuary cares for injured and orphaned sloths in Costa Rica. They also lead sloth education efforts to improve the plight of wild sloths. From time to time, they even have a captive birth, including this baby three-toed sloth called a bradypus or pale-throated sloth. 

At 2 days old, the baby bradypus weighed just 425 grams or 15 ounces!

Here the little guy tries to get a taste of what mom is eating.

At two weeks he has packed on the pounds, or pound rather, weighing 475 grams or just over 1 lb. 

You can help the Sloth Sanctuary by adopting a sloth, purchasing items on their wishlist, or even visiting next time you are in the neighborhood in Costa Rica.