ZooBorns

Five Little Rhinos in Six Short Years

A baby White Rhinoceros was born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay on July 13, the first calf born to mother Kisiri and the fifth calf born to father Tambo. Busch Gardens has celebrated a total of five white rhino births since October 2004, four of which are female. The new baby weighed an estimated 140 pounds at the time of the birth. The newborn – who has yet to be named – will gain approximately four pounds each day until it reaches an adult weight of approximately 3,500 to 4,000 pounds.

Busch Gardens participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) to ensure genetic diversification among threatened and endangered animals in zoological facilities. The birth brings the total White and Black Rhino population at the park to 13.

Photo credits: Matt Marriott / Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

The Little Meerkat That Could

Photographer Sophie L. Miller caught a Newquay Zoo baby Meerkat struggling to get up the side of this slope. According to Miller, "the little fella was causing a lot of commotion; it kept trying to climb up that little dirt slope, and was getting quite distressed..."

Meerkats are highly social critters and never stop looking out for their own. Here below we see an adult from the group offering up a treat moments later.  Miller said of the adult, "She kept setting a berry down by the baby's face, in an attempt to feed it, only to have it roll back down the slope. The adult meerkat would then pick the berry up and try again." One day this helpless fuzzy friend will grow up and return the favor, but for now, "It takes a village..."

Photo Credits: Sophie L. Miller

Playing Mom for a Baby Gorilla

Back in April and May, we brought you the story of Misha the Louisville Zoo's baby gorilla, which had been injured by a surly male gorilla. To facilitate her recovery, it was determined that Misha should be moved to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, which is internationally recognized for caring for gorillas in social groups including the placement of young gorillas with surrogate mothers. Surrogates are taught to not only care for their baby like their own but also to bring the baby over to staff when prompted for bottle feedings, medication and regular check-ups. For now though, Misha spends most of her time with zoo staffers as you can see in the must watch video below.

Photo credits: Columbus Zoo & Aquarium

Three Snow Leopard Cubs Debut Banham Zoo

This past weekend, the UK's Banham Zoo debuted their three 10 week old Snow Leopard cubs to the public. Up until now, the only glimpses most zoo staff had seen were grainy images from the remote den cam. The cubs appear happy and healthy and still have access to the secluded den area for when they want to avoid the limelight. The Banham Zoo has been part of the European Breeding Programme for this endangered species for over 25 years.

Photo credits: Banham Zoo

Meet Kambiri the Pygmy Hippo

Taronga Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a precious Pygmy Hippo calf, the first to be reared by its mother at the Zoo in over 20 years. The female infant named, ‘Kambiri’ meaning “allow me to join this family “was born to mother ‘Petre’ and father ‘Timmy’ and discovered in the early morning of Saturday 26 June by the Zoo’s dedicated keeping staff who had been monitoring the pregnancy.

For the next few weeks visitors will begin to catch glimpses of the newborn as it spends short periods of time exploring the exhibit with its mother.“Pygmy Hippos spend a lot of time in the water so Kambiri needs to perfect the art of swimming before it can spend long periods in the exhibit. Like all infants, they tire quickly so we will be taking things day by day.”

“We ask our visitors to be patient whilst we introduce Kambiri to the outside world, however in the coming weeks we do hope to share her with the community as much as possible. Pygmy Hippo babies are one of the cutest there is and exceptionally precious with only a few thousand individuals left in the wild.”

The infant is the second female calf born to Petre and Timmy, following ‘Monifa’ which was born in 2008. Unfortunately despite Petre initially showing very strong mothering skills, Monifa had to be hand-reared by zoo keepers after a difficult breach birth which compromised the newborn’s ability to thrive.

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One Sleepy Baby Orangutan

Ouehand Zoo's nearly three week old Orangutan infant LOVES to sleep. In the wild, Orangutans fashion treetop sleeping nests out of branches. Mom's back is a perfect substitute for now. A.J. Haverkamp's picture and video taken just a few days ago catch "Babyboy" in deep REM sleep.

Photo Credits: A.J. Haverkamp

Little Miss 502

Little Sea Otter pup #502 arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium after being discovered weak, sick and alone on a California beach. After four weeks of antibiotics delivered via frozen clams and a behind the scenes introduction to a surrogate mother named Joy, #502 went on exhibit to the public last week. She got her temporary numerical name because she was the 502nd Sea Otter rescued by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's SORAC program since its founding in 1984. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing nature of #502's medical treatment, she cannot be released back into the wild because she won't have the necessary wild-otter skills. Eventually she may be introduced to another orphan turned education animal, the not-to-be-missed Kit, who we met earlier in the summer.

Photo credits: © Monterey Bay Aquarium / Randy Wilder

Read the whole story below the fold.

Red Panda Mom Shows Her Skills at Chester Zoo

New photos by David Evans from the UK's Chester Zoo reveal just how agile a Red Panda mom has to be. Mom has a tight grip on her tiny cub as she navigates the veritable obstacle course that is the red panda cub enclosure. Expert climbers, Red Pandas are catlike in many of their behaviors including grooming, lying outstretched when it's hot, and curling up with tails over their snouts in colder weather.

Photo Credits: David Evans

Record Broken for Black-Footed Ferrets

Once believed to be extinct, Black-footed Ferrets have had a banner year for breeding at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s conservation facility in Front Royal, Va. Twelve litters of black-footed ferrets have been born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute since May 7, including litters born to four females who have never before had kits.

Photo credits: Smithsonian National Zoo

In total, 50 kits were born this year, and 49 have survived. The sizes of the litters this year also were larger than previous years. Five of the litters born this year included six kits—unusual for a species that usually has three or four kits at a time. The most recent litter was born July 23.

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Lily the Lion Has Her First Cubs!

Belfast’s famous lion, Lily, has had her first pair of cubs in her new home in the Czech Republic. Lily is an extremely rare Barbary Lion, a species that went extinct in the wild in 1922. Lily was born in 2007 at Belfast Zoo and was hand-reared after being rejected by her mother. Lily moved to the Czech Republic in August of 2009 to meet a suitable male lion named Simon. They moved to Olomouc Zoo together, and are now the proud parents of these brother and sister cubs.

Photo Credits: Belfast Zoo