Gerenuks are shy, slight creatures. When threatened or preyed upon, a gerenuk may stand very still behind a bush or a tree and slowly creep away with its head lowered, or gallop toward a place of safety. Although these antelopes are not particularly fast, they are difficult to chase because they dart in, around, and between the desert bushes and trees. These photos were taken at the LA Zoo just days ago.
Two adult female Gerenuk stand guard.
Thanks to MickiP65 for the photos via flickr.
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Shy creatures that prefer to stay in the brush, duiker are small antelope from Sub-Saharan Africa. This little fellow was born at the LA Zoo on January 9th. While duiker feed primarily on leaves, buds, seeds, fruit and bark, they also will eat protein given the opportunity, and have been observed stalking and eating small rodents.
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Kind of like a guinea pig, but with longer legs, agoutis range between Central and South America and some of the nearby islands. This baby Brazilian agouti was born January 11, 2009 at the the LA Zoo. These rodents are remarkable for their ability to jump up to six feet straight up from a standstill.
Agoutis tend to eat fallen fruits and nuts as well as succulent plants. One of the few animals capable of breaking open the pods of the Brazil nut tree, they have a symbiotic relationship with the tree. After they open the pods, agoutis bury the extra nuts over a wide area. The seeds that aren’t later retrieved by the agoutis for food will grow into new trees.
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This past Friday the L.A. Zoo unveiled its newest little baby koala. While this fuzzy little friend was actually born in April, at that time it was only three-fourths of an inch long and immediately climbed into mom's pouch. Called a joey, this little boy or girl has been in the pouch ever since. That is, until last week! These are the first pics of the little guy out of the pouch with mom.
Between six and twelve months, little koalas are weaned from milk to eucalyptus as they stick their heads out of the pouch to eat partially digested leaves. After a year, the joey will leave the pouch for good.
Photos by Tad Motoyama/Los Angeles Zoo
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In under one week, four Chacoan peccaries were born at the LA Zoo. Lucky for them, they were just in time for Halloween and got to enjoy some delicious pumpkin treats. Closely related to pigs, these little guys are native to Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay and were thought extinct until 1972 when they were rediscovered. See them this weekend at Boo at the Zoo!
These camouflaged little oinkers really blend in with their surroudings...
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