Perth's Uggly Puggle Babies

Two Puggles (baby echidnas) born in August were put on display for the media at Australia's Perth Zoo yesterday. The Puggles' names are Moa and Kain. Having bred the notoriously difficult-to-breed species three years in a row, the zoo believes it has the foundation of a captive breeding program for its critically endangered cousin, the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea.

 

Photo credits: Lincoln Baker

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Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1259451068]

For babies, they're cute - sort of. But, kudos for the breeding program.

[k]

OMG they're so cute my head almost exploded.

[Ann Littlewood]

Adorable, in an insectoid sort of way. I wonder if they are being mother-reared. Also, what's the secret behind all this success?

[Warren]

Truly, a face only its mother could love. Holy gorgonzola, what a creature.

[gabi]

They are adorable... but for the mothers sake, please tell me these are born out of eggs!

[billytea]

They do hatch from eggs, and they don't have even the hint of spines when they first hatch. And they are made of awesome.

[Amy]

They're so ugly its cute. In a creepy from another planet type of way.

[Chari Mercier]

WOW!!! Faces that only a mother could love every day! They remind me of the naked mole rats that I see on the National Zoo mole rat cam everyday! They are so ugly, they're cute!! The mole rats, and now, these echidnas, make me laugh because of their very unusual makeup! Do they burrow under ground like the mole rats? And, I'm sure that their eyesight is not too good out in the open either. Australia has some of the most unusual animals around!
Chari Mercier :)
St. Pete, FL

[Smilla]

They were really created by the Weta Workshop in New Zealand, left over from Lord of the Rings.

[Anat]

they HATCH out of eggs?
but they look so mammal like...

[Hugh]

that would be because they are mammals. it's that OTHER mammal that lays eggs

[Lorinda]

They have to be the cutest things ever :)

[eternalcanadian]

ummm, definitely cute to their parents. ;-)

[billytea]

Like the platypus (also a monotreme), they are mammals, and they lay eggs. They are powerful diggers and often shelter in burrows, but they don't spend all their time underground like mole rats. (Bear in mind that adults look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EchidnainCanberra.JPG. Those spines aren't convenient for tunnel living.) Their eyesight isn't terrific and they can't see colour, but they make up for it with excellent hearing and smell. It even has an additional sense - its beak can detect small electrical charges, which helps it find the ants and termites it lives on. (They get better reception with a wet nose.) Platypuses can do this too; it's even easier underwater.

And they are made of awesome.

[Erin]

When they grow up they look like hedgehogs.. über cute!

[Holy Cuteness]

Ugly but cute... ;-)

[Alex]

They are indeed made of awesome. They are clearly not made of cute. There are a couple at Philadelphia's zoo, if anyone's in that area.

[Joel]

They look like a certain bodypart I won't mention on a family-friendly site.

[billytea]

Philadelphia Zoo actually holds the record for the longest-lived echidna in captivity, at 48 years.

[Charlotte]

Wow. Those things look like something from a science-fiction movie. And reading up on echidnas on Wiki, they apparently are pretty science-fictiony. They're hideous. But strangely appealing.

The adults are rather cute, in a more conventional way.

[Susan Smythe]

Possibly the cutest things ever

[NerdMom]

Could I use one of your pics on my blog? I will definitely place a link back!