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.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announced the birth of a baby Francois’ Langur on January 25, 2011. Just like human infants, baby primates can often be demanding little bundles of joy, as evidenced in these pictures. The sex of the baby is yet to be determined, but the noisy little orange furball is currently on exhibit in The RainForest with mother Petunia, father Ike and brother Maynard, who was born in April 2009. Lucky for mom, two other adult females in the Zoo’s Langur group -- Mei Mei and Leilu -- share in the parenting duties as they would in the wild.
Less than a year after giving birth to baby Orolito, a pair of golden lion tamarins at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo welcomed two more little tufts of orange hair on December 27, 2010. The babies, whose sexes have yet to be determined, are clinging to mom, Brie, and dad, Cumin, and seem to be doing well. The Zoo is fortunate to have had three Golden Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) born in the last 10 months, as they are among the most endangered mammals on earth. Deforestation and habitat loss have relegated the golden lion tamarin to a small region in eastern Brazil. In fact, almost all golden lion tamarins found in U.S. zoos are actually considered to be on loan from the Brazilian government.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, managers of one of the largest collections of prosimians in the country, is happy to announce the November 15 birth of an infant Mohol Bush Baby, one of fewer than 15 Bush Babies on exhibit in all of North America. The as-yet-unnamed little Bush Baby is the offspring of mother, Yetty, and father, Yaupon, one of only four breeding Bush Baby pairs in North America. The two Bush Babies came to Cleveland from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle when they closed their nocturnal exhibit.
The Eastern Black Rhino family at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo welcomed a new female calf August 17, the fourth daughter born to mom Inge, and second offspring of dad Jimma. She was estimated to have weighed more than 100 pounds at birth. The baby rhino, who has yet to be named, is a significant addition to the zoo population as there are only 31 female and 36 male Eastern black rhinos in zoos in North America and they are considered highly endangered in the wild. There have been only two other Eastern black rhino babies born in the U.S. this year.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is proud to announce the birth of two red ruffed lemurs, a male and a female, on June 7, 2010. The births continue the Zoo's long history of success with the species. They are the first offspring of father Toros and mother Vari, who was born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in May 2005. They are gaining strength quickly and are regularly seen crawling out of their nest box, climbing onto their mother, playing and hanging from the branches within their enclosure. The babies are on exhibit in the Zoo's Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building. Red ruffed lemurs are native to Madagascar and critically endangered in the wild.
Photographer Paula Longshore captured these expressive images of mother koala 'Colliet' with her six-month-old joey at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Gum Leaf Hideout yesterday. Koala moms like Colliet bear one young every two years and may even adopt abandoned babies.
We want your vote (via comment, facebook, email, or twitter) for best hair do. America's newest Golden Lion Tamarins are facing off in a ZooBorns showdown for coolest coiffe. ('Elvis', on the left, is from Zoo Atlanta and 'Orolito', right, is from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo). Send the name of your pick via any of the channels above and we'll tally the results. Click the images below to enlarge.
Extra points may be awarded for clinging technique...
'Orolito' courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo/ 'Elvis' courtesy of smileybears
Meet the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's newest and cutest little Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo joey. Unlike their Australian ground dwelling cousins, Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos live in New Guinea and spend most of their lives high in the trees. They have an amazing ability to jump from trees, having been observed leaping down to the ground from 30 feet or more on a whim. Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos are endangered due to poaching and habitat destruction.
Favorite zoo video to date: rough-housing Red Panda cub footage set to music from Kill Bill at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They have clearly mastered Crane style.
Juvenile Red Pandas play to learn skills that will be useful later in life. Wrestling skills for example may some day help them acquire a better mate, defend themselves from predators or get them a breakthrough role in a Tarantino movie.
"ZooBorns pulls off the difficult task of being cute and interesting for people of all ages while also being informative. Many books seek this lofty goal but most fail." - Seattle Post Intelligencer
