The Cincinnati Zoo recently welcomed three Screaming Hairy Armadillo babies, which will eventually join the Zoo's outreach program to teach school children about animals and conservation. As their name implies, the Screaming Hairy Armadillo squeals when threatened, perhaps by a hungry jaguar. Native to Arengtina, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay this species ranges from deserts to grasslands and escapes the heat of the summer day deep within a burrow.
Photo and video credits: Cincinnati Zoo
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Apparently it's baby penguin season on ZooBorns with the latest adorable installment coming direct from the Cincinnati Zoo. This Little Penguin chick is just two-weeks old and is currently being cared for behind the scenes, inside the Zoo's Wings of Wonder exhibit.The chick weighs approximately 250 grams (or a quarter-pound), but is expected to weigh just over two pounds as an adult. Mom, “Oreo” (7-years-old) and dad, “Boomer” (8-years-old), were not properly incubating the egg, so staff at the Cincinnati Zoo made the decision to pull the egg and incubate it themselves. Little Penguins are the smallest species of penguin but that doesn't mean this chick doesn't like to eat. Zoo aviculture staff have to feed the demanding little bird six times a day, every three hours. At first it was fed a delicious fish milkshake but has since graduated to slices of fish (sashimi if you will).
Don't miss this great video
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Quiet, slow and shy, Pottos spend their days sleeping in nooks high up in the trees and nights hunting for tasty fruits, tree sap and the occasional sleepy bug. Only three North American zoos exhibit Pottos and only the Cincinnati Zoo has successfully bred this rarely seen primitive primate. In some parts of Africa, the Potto is called a "Softly-Softly," however when the diminutive Potto is threatened, they will jab at enemies with pointy vertebrae on the back of their necks. Distantly related to apes and humans, they are more closely related to other lorises. These photos come to us courtesy of and copyright by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Photo credits: The Enquirer / Ernest Coleman
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Two eight-week-old Cougar cubs are now on display in the Cincinnati Zoo nursery. Born September 17th, the brothers, named “Joseph” and “Tecumseh” will assist the Zoo in educating people about the need to protect these beautiful cats that once roamed throughout much of America. The brothers will soon join the Cat Ambassador Program in the future Night Hunters exhibit.
Photo credits (two top photos): David Jenke
Photo credits (two bottom photos): Connie Lemperie
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Nikki, the Cincinnati Zoo’s endangered Indian Rhino, gave birth early this morning to the world’s first live Indian Rhino calf produced by artificial insemination (AI). Nikki delivered a male calf at 6:06 a.m. in her indoor stall. Currently, the calf is in critical condition with Zoo staff working diligently to feed and stabilize him. Meanwhile, Nikki is doing well and will remain indoors. Nikki has been monitored 24 hours a day since the first of October. She became increasingly restless throughout Monday evening into the night. Cincinnati Zoo Volunteer Observers called Zoo staff in early Tuesday morning. Nikki delivered her calf while volunteer and staff watched anxiously via a live video feed. As soon as the calf was born, Zoo staff jumped into action to assist and resuscitate the calf who was at first not breathing. The calf has been successfully breathing on its own since.
Photo credits: Cincinnati Zoo
Continue reading "Pulling for Cincinnati's Rare Rhino Calf" »
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Meet the Cincinnati Zoo's newest little Parma Wallaby joey. This species of wallaby is the smallest in the genus Macropus, which includes all kangaroos, wallaroos and some wallabies. Extremely shy in the wild, Parma Wallabies were thought to be extinct until the mid 1960s, when a small hidden population was discovered in the swampy forests of Kawau Island off the coast of New Zealand.
Living in the nursery for now, this baby wallaby will eventually become an outreach animal at the zoo.
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Well, he's really a White-Handed Gibbon. Photographer Paul Becker captured these shots last week while visiting the Cincinnati Zoo. The two-month-old Gibbon is named Possum. In the wild, White-Handed Gibbons (Lar Gibbons) are threatened by poaching for bushmeat and capture for the pet trade. The largest danger, however, is the loss of habitat in their native Southeast Asia. Incidentally, any experts out there know what species Yoda is, technically?
Photo Credits: Paul Becker taken at Cincinnati Zoo
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Meet the Cincinnati Zoo's newest little Arabian Sand Cat kittens, who just debuted to the public today. Born on October 29th, the kittens, male "Najah" and female "Fath," currently weigh just 1lb. 12 oz. and 1 lb. 6 oz. respectively.
Photo credits: Cincinnati Zoo
The kittens' parents are a specially selected breeding pair from the Al Wabra Reserve in Qatar. Sand cats have fur on their feet to walk on hot sands and dig their own burrows to make nests and avoid the heat of the desert.
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A first for ZooBorns and the first in 15 years for the Cincinnati Zoo: Fishing Cats! As their name suggests, Fishing Cats are specialists at hunting critters in the water. They will even dive-in head first to catch their prey! This makes them the perfect cat to take in the bath with you (kidding!).
The Cincinnati Zoo has been working with other AZA institutions to study these elusive felines in the wilds of Thailand. Learn more, including how to help, at www.fishingcatproject.info
Watch them do some fishing!
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"Animal Babies Make Conservation Cute"
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