For the first time since 1994, three Asian Wild Horse foals have been born at the Calgary Zoo’s endangered species breeding facility – the Devonian Wildlife Conservation Centre (DWCC). The adorable new additions, now frolicking in the meadows at the zoo’s ranch, expand the herd from 8 to 11 horses. The public will have the chance to name the foals. The three foals were born on April 24 (colt*), May 2 (filly‡), and May 20 (filly) – contest details follow. All of them were sired by Varanasi, a stallion born at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and introduced to the Calgary herd in 2008. All three mares, Naghai, Molly and Chilka, were born at the Granby Zoo in Quebec.
On April 25th, Germany's Allwetter Zoo in Munster welcomed a Mongolian horse foal weighing 35 kg (77 lbs). Small and stocky, Mongolian horses have remained largely unchanged genetically since the time of Ghengis Kahn. They also have the largest genetic diversity among all horse breeds, suggesting that humans have not guided their breeding habits nearly as closely as other horses.
The latest arrival at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo is a total beginner, but the newborn Przewalski foal is already finding his feet in the public arena. Born in the early hours of Tuesday 15th September, the foal is still sticking close beside mother Tuuli but can be seen here wobbling around, trying to copy the other horses as they quick-step around the paddock.
There's so much going on at zoo nurseries these days we can barely keep up! Enjoy this collection of outstanding videos from Smithsonian National Zoo and Bronx Zoo.
In a 24-hour-period between July 9 and 10, a clouded leopard cub, a Przewalski's horse, and a red panda cub
were all born at Smithsonian's National Zoo's Conservation and Research
Center
Looks like the Smithsonian National Zoo is gonna need a bigger bird house!
Watch a baby lemur grow from a sleepy eyed infant into a bouncing teen (in lemur years) at the Bronx Zoo
Keepers at the Smithsonian Zoo closely watched female Przewalski’s horse Brandy for the past
several weeks as they realized a birth was imminent. The foal was seen
nursing soon after its July 9th birth. The mother and offspring are
bonding well.
Przewalski’s horses are critically endangered—only a few hundred
reintroduced animals live in protected areas in their native China and
Mongolia. The National Zoo is at the forefront of Przewalski’s horse
conservation, which includes detailed reproductive studies of the herd
at CRC, leading the Przewalski’s Horse North American Species Survival
Plan and using GIS technology to study their movements in the wild. Many more pics after the jump...
Photo Credit: Mehgan Murphy/Smithsonian's National Zoo
