ZooBorns

Baby Capybaras Born in The RainForest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Just ten days ago, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo welcomed the birth of three baby Capybaras. The new babies bring the Zoo’s group of Capybaras up to six including mom Shoya, dad Budha, and another adult female, Bonita. They can all be seen on exhibit together on the second floor of The RainForest.

Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. They can grow up to 4.5 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds. They are native to South America and can be found throughout most of the continent east of the Andes Mountains.

Photo credit: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Meerkats Abound at Cleveland Zoo

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is alive with the pitter patter of really teeny tiny feet! The zoo’s resident Meerkat mom recently gave birth to several kits.  The zoo staff is unsure how many kits are in the litter, but suspects they were born around August 26.  Mother Meerkat has been keeping her babies hidden in a tunnel den, mostly out of view of staff members and the public.







“We decided it would be better for the health and welfare of the kits to not disturb them by entering the exhibit and allow them time to bond with their mother,” Curator of Animals Andi Kornak said. “Consequently, we are not sure exactly how many of them there may be total, but we do have visual confirmation on three individuals.”

Meerkat kits in the wild are kept hidden in the mob’s tunnel system to protect them from predators. They are tended to by several members of the mob, not just their mother, who act as baby-sitters or wet nurses. A Meerkat typically gives birth to between one and five kits. The kits normally begin exploring outside the den at about 3-4 weeks old.

Meerkats are native to southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In the wild they forage for insects are other small creatures including scorpions and spiders.

Photo credit:  Joe Yachanin/Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Help Name This Baby Eastern Black Rhino

A Eastern Black Rhinoceros calf was born on July 1 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and it's a boy! The calf weighed about 80 pounds (36 kg) at birth and is growing fast. In just four weeks he now tips the scales at about 150 pounds (68 kg). When fully grown he will weigh about 3,000 pounds or 1360 kg! Animal keepers will give mother and baby time to bond and hope they can be put on exhibit shortly in the Zoo’s African Savanna. 

The Zoo hopes the public will help name the calf by visiting clemetzoo.com and voting through August 9 for their favorite potential rhino name. Tthe winning name will be revealed on August 10.

The Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) is classified as “Critically Endangered” in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the primary organization for quantifying conservation assessment efforts.  The IUCN estimates there are less than 1,000 of this rhino subspecies left in the wild, concentrated primarily in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has been very successful in breeding Eastern Black Rhinos as part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Program; this is the fifth successful rhino birth at the Zoo since 2000. 

Photo Credit: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

My, what big ears you have! Slender-horned Gazelle born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

An endangered Slender-horned Gazelle with improbably long ears and big dark eyes will greet visitors at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo beginning August 1 in the African Savanna.

Born in late June, the female calf has been off exhibit for about four weeks to give her time to bond with her mother, Francis. The calf is the first offspring at the Zoo for Francis, who came to Cleveland in 2009 from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and for her father, Ziggy, who came to the Zoo in 2010 from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. The calf brings the number of Slender-horned Gazelles at the Zoo up to five. The other members of the herd are adult females Bullet and Ella.

Standing about 30 inches tall and weighing about 60 pounds, these graceful Gazelles have large ears, which serve as a cooling mechanism in the scorching desert heat, and slightly oversized hooves for walking in sand. Both males and females have horns.

Slender-horned Gazelles were once one of the most common Gazelles in the Sahara Desert. While they still have a wide range, including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia, their populations are small and fragmented. They are classified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for Slender-horned Gazelles.

Photo credits:  Joe Yachanin

 

Ferocious! Black-footed Kittens at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Reaching only about 3.5 lbs as adults, Black-footed Cats may be the world's smallest felines. When these two little kittens were born April 2 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, they weighed-in at just 7 ounces (200 grams). The kittens' sexes have yet to be determined. They were born to mom, Godiva, and father, Wyatt.

Wyatt is considered a genetically valuable animal whose genes and offspring are an important contribution to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for Black-footed Cats. There are about 18 accredited institutions in North America with Black- footed Cats and this is the third litter for Cleveland Metroparks.

Black-footed Cats are the smallest of the African cats, with adults reaching about 3.5 pounds when fully grown. Their conservation status is listed as “vulnerable” in the wild. Black-footed Cats are found in the grasslands and savannas of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The gestation period is from 63 to 68 days, resulting in a litter of 1-3 kittens. Kittens develop quickly, eating solid food at five weeks and capturing prey at six.

Photo credits: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

 

A New Baby Giraffe for Cleveland Metroparks Zoo!

The eldest female Masai giraffe at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has a new calf to raise. Lindi, 26, gave birth on July 11 in the giraffe barn to a male calf named Trevor. Trevor is the first successful offspring for father, Travis, 4, who came to Cleveland in 2008 from the San Diego Zoo.

“Mom and baby are doing relatively well,” said Andi Kornak, the Zoo’s Curator of Carnivores and Large Mammals. “He was standing and moving around in an appropriate amount of time and was nursing within a few hours.” 

Giraffes give birth standing up, so newborns get an abrupt introduction to the world by dropping up to 6 feet to the ground. They are about 6-feet tall when they are born and weigh between 100 to 150 pounds. The calf joins the other giraffes in the African Savanna exhibit, Jada, 4, Grace, almost 3, Shirley, 5, and Jhasmin, 5. Keepers will give mom and baby time to bond and hope they can join the other giraffes in the herd on exhibit shortly in the Zoo’s African Savanna. 

Photo Credit: Jeanne DeBonis/Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Little Bear Brothers Make Their Debut

Photo Credit: Jeanne DeBonis

Two orphaned Grizzly Bear cubs made their public debut on June 14, 2011 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.The little bear brothers traveled to Cleveland from Montana, where they were being cared for in a wildlife rehabilitation facility.

The cubs, estimated to be about 4 months old, came to the Zoo on June 2 weighing about 20 pounds each. Currently they weigh about 40 pounds each. When fully grown, an adult male Grizzly Bear can weigh up to 900 pounds. After a routine stay in quarantine, the grizzly cubs are now ready to begin exploring their Northern Trek exhibit, which has been specially prepped for young bears.

The Zoo wants the public to help determine the cubs’ new names. Visit www.clemetzoo.com and help us “Dub the Cubs” by voting in the online poll. Results will be announced on August 1.

Photo Credit: Jeanne DuBonis/Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

A man looking for shed antlers in the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area near Helena, Montana startled the cubs’ mother. The man shot the mother Grizzly in self-defense and the cubs were taken in by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

Trumpeting the Arrival of Little Cygnets

Six Trumpeter Swan cygnets were hatched at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo last week. The largest North American bird, Trumpeter Swans vanished from most of the United Sates over 100 years ago due to over hunting and lead poisoning. In 1996 the Ohio reintroduction program was started by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Zoo. The father of these new cygnets was part of this program and all six of these cygnets will eventually be released into the wild.

Two Little Lemur Ladies Leap onto the Scene!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announces the birth of two Red-ruffed Lemurs, the second litter for mom Vari and her breeding partner Toros. The twin girls, named Carina and Cassiopeia, were born May 8 and are on exhibit with their mom in the Zoo’s Primate, Cat & Aquatics building. While the twins currently spend a lot of time in their nest box, they get braver every day and will soon venture out to explore the rest of their exhibit.

Red-ruffed Lemurs (Varecia rubra) are a critically endangered species native to the island nation of Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa. They are active throughout the day, and are characterized by their loud, peculiar sounding vocalizations. Red-ruffed Lemurs in the wild face increasing habitat deforestation, in addition to hunting and commercial exportation. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for red-ruffed Lemurs as well as the SSPs for ring-tailed, mongoose, crowned and collared lemurs.  SSP programs identify population management goals and make recommendations to ensure the sustainability, health and genetic diversity of those populations.

Black-footed Cat Kittens!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announces the birth of two Black-footed Cat kittens! The kittens, whose sex have yet to be determined, are healthy and doing well with mom, Godiva. They were born April 17 and currently are on exhibit in the nocturnal animal area of the Zoo’s Primate, Cat and Aquatics building.

The two kittens are the second litter for Godiva, 4, and her male breeding partner, Wyatt, also 4. Godiva’s first litter produced one kitten, a male, who is now part of a breeding pair at the Louisville Zoological Garden.

Photo credits: Jeanne DeBonis/Cleveland Metroparks Zoo