Still too young to open their eyes, two tiny tiger cubs have made their photographic debut at Washington's Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Weighing only 2 lbs at birth on May 25th, these kittens will eventually grow to between 200 lbs - 300lbs. With the successful birth of these two rare Sumatran Tigers, the total number of these critically endangered cats in North American zoos climbs to 74. There are only between 400-500 remaining the wild.
Photo and Video Credits: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Belgium's Planckendael Zoo is proud to announce the debut of Laila, the first Snow Leopard cub ever to be born in the country. A short while after her birth in April, Laila's mother Maili's health declined rapidly and, sadly, she did not survive. Planckendael keepers stepped in and have raised the orphaned cub by hand. It is believed that only between 4,000 and 6,000 Snow Leopards remain in the wild. Laila represents an invaluable new bloodline for the European Snow
Leopard Breeding Program.
Photo Credits: Zoo Planckendael
Many more pics and another video below the fold...
On April 8th, Oceans of Fun based out of the Milwaukee County Zoo, welcomed a happy and healthy California sea lion pup. Named Sequoia, the pup weighed just 13lbs at birth. Oceans of Fun is dedicated to ocean conservation and serves as one of a handful of sea lion breeding centers in North America.
Below: Sequoia plays with her chew toy and proves my theory that sea lions are basically Labrador retrievers with flippers.
When Everland Zoo photographer In Cherl Kim takes to a zoo-born baby for a portrait session (or double portrait session as the case may be) the results are captivating. This picture taken just today in Seoul's Everland Resort is no exception to the rule.
A 70kg giraffe calf that entered the world in spectacular fashion in full public view at Perth Zoo on the weekend made his public debut today – this time a little more dignified and on his feet, standing tall with mother Misha. Following the birth of the male calf at 1.30pm on Saturday in the giraffe exhibit, the youngster and his mother have been kept off display to give them some quiet time and make sure all is well with the calf.
A rare white antelope has been born at Paignton Zoo. The Kafue Flats lechwe calf was born on Sunday 23rd May. She is the first white lechwe born at Paignton Zoo in over 20 years. Her keepers have named her Sethunya, meaning blossom, because of the hawthorn blossom around the paddock. Paignton Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “The lechwe are shy animals in a large paddock and she is very small, so she may be difficult to see - but she is white so she does stand out. She is a naturally-occurring curiosity – and very lovely!" The youngster’s coloring is due to a double recessive gene that only occurs in females. She is not a true albino as her eyes are blue not pink.
Zoo visitor and photographer Marion G. contributed these pics she took at France's Montpelier Parc Zoo a few days ago. The precocious little Crowned Lemur baby can't seem to get enough of the "paparazzi". Crowned Lemurs are vulnerable to extinction in the wild. The few which remain inhabit only the northern tip of Madagascar, the island where all wild lemurs live, off Africa's southwestwern coast.
Louisville's Little Slugger has had a rocky start, but things are definitely shaping up as the Columbus Zoo, his new home, prepares him for life with a potential surrogate Mom.
At Scotland's MacDuff Aquarium, photographer Mandy Reid came face to... er... face... with four tiny newborn skates.
Photo Credits: Mandy Reid
If you look in the background of the second picture, you'll see the skate egg sacks from which these four little guys just emerged. You can often find these empty and dried egg sacks washed up on your local beach
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.
