ZooBorns

Sweet Baby Tapir at Franklin Park Zoo

On December 5th, after thirteen months of gestation, Baird's Tapir mother "Abby" gave birth to a healthy female calf at Massachusetts' Franklin Park Zoo. The baby girl weighed just 21 lbs. at birth, compared to her mother's weight of 700 lbs.  Her keepers named her "Tupelo," after the honey, because of her sweet disposition.

 

 

Photo Credits: Franklin Park Zoo / Christina Demetrio   

Tiny Spider Monkey Clings to Mom

Just three weeks old, the Palm Beach Zoo's new baby Mexican Spider Monkey clings tightly to mom, Raven. This species is critically endangered in its native home of Central America due to habitat destruction. Interestingly, spider monkeys have lost their thumbs over thousands of years of evolution. The remaining four fingers form a near perfect hook for swinging from branch to branch. 

 

 

The Palm Beach Zoo's Director of Living Collections, Keith Lovett, serves as the manager for the Spider Monkey Species Survival Plan, directing captive breeding programs for Association of Zoo and Aquarium accredited insitutions. 

Checking-in with the Mesker Park Jaguar Cubs

About a month ago we brought you some adorable photos of the Mesker Park Zoo's two new female jaguar cubs. Now we check back in on the playful cubs who can now be seen by the public.

 

 

Photo credits: Larry and Jenny Griesemer 
  

Mantid Hatchlings

They are not your typical ZooBorns fare, but we are proud to run our first baby insect, a Dead Leaf Mantid hatchling. Hatched on October 28th at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo in Indiana, they are only now big enough to handle. Dead leaf mantids are one of 2,000 mantid species, such as the praying mantis found in the Midwest. 

Pygmy Hippo Weighs a Ton on the Cute Scale

On November 27th, the Colchester Zoo welcomed its first Pygmy Hippo calf. Since then, mom and baby girl have developed a close bond. The little one has been reportedly "suckling strongly," steadily gaining weight, as evidenced below, at a healthy rate.

 

 

Cozy Giraffe Calf at the Calgary Zoo

These are the first photos of this "tiny" 5' 10", 130 lb. baby girl giraffe calf born this past Saturday at the Calgary Zoo. The calf remains in the nursery with her mother, Mardi, for now but should make her public debut next week. 

  

 

 

Photo Credits: Jane Cameron / Calgary Zoo

Baby Bird Boom in Singapore's Jurong Bird Park

Bird lovers have something to rejoice over as Jurong Bird Park welcomed six chicks hatched over the last few months. The chicks are of six different species, four featured below, namely the Crown Pigeon, Golden Conure, Greater Flamingo and Malay Fish Owl.

Crown Pigeon (4 Months)


Golden Cunure (2 Months)


Greater Flamingo (2.5 Months)


Malay Fish Owl (1 Month)

One of the World's Rarest Cubs

Making her public debut Dec. 4th, this little Amur Leopard cub was born four weeks ago at Germany's Serengeti Park. Native to Russia's Far East, Amur Leopards are critically endangered with less than 40 estimated left in the wild.

 

 

Roar!

 

 Photo Credits: Joerg Sarbach / Associated Press

Consider helping to protect these beautiful animals this holiday season by donating to the ALTA, the Amur Leopard Conservation organization.

Dragons Hatch in Washington, DC

On November 11th, four little dragonlings hatched at the Smithsonian National Zoo. Little is known about the Chameleon Forest Dragon, except that they are not actually chameleons (and there's no such thing as real dragons of course...  sorry if we got your hopes up). 

Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, Chameleon Forest Dragons are a brilliant green at birth and then change to a darker green or brown in adulthood to camouflage the lizards in their treetop homes.

  Photo Credits: Mehgan Murphy / National Zoo

Dancer and Prancer Hop into the Belfast Zoo

The Belfast Zoo's resident male Red Kangaroo is named Randalph, which zoo staff decided was close enough to "Rudolph" to name his newest joeys Dancer and Prancer. The largest marsupial in the world, Red Kangaroo's reach up to 190 lbs (85 kg) and almost 5 feet long from head to tail but at birth they weigh only .02 ounces (75 grams) and spend their first 150 days in mom's pouch!

 

 

Family portrait