ZooBorns

Santa Barbara Zoo Welcomes Two Masai Giraffe Calves

It's been an exciting two weeks for Santa Barbara Zoo, with two Masai giraffe calves born within ten days of each other! Five year-old Audrey gave birth to the first calf, a male named Dane, on April 18th. On April 28th, five year-old Betty Lou gave birth to a female, Sunshine. Both calves are healthy and under their mothers' care. Dane is six feet three inches tall and weighs 156 pounds. Slightly smaller, Sunshine stands six feet tall and weighs 133 pounds.

The mother-calf pairs will be rotated on and off exhibit, to allow them time to bond behind-the-scenes in a quiet barn. While both mothers are attentively caring for their own calves, Betty Lou is especially protective, and zoo staff are making sure that she and her calf are introduced safely into the group.

Michael, the father of the two calves, is separated from the young calves for now by a baby fence, simply because he is so large. “The calves need to get a little bigger, a little smarter and learn how to be giraffes,” says Sheri Horiszny, director of Animal Programs. 

See photos of Dane below.

Photo credits: Santa Barbara Zoo

See the calves' debut on exhibit:
 

Masai giraffes are the largest subspecies of giraffe, growing up to eighteen feet tall and weighing up to 2,700 pounds. Recently, Masai giraffe populations have begun to decline in the wild. Santa Barabara exhibits Masai giraffes as a part of a regional giraffe management program with other West Coast zoos. This programs allows the zoos to breed healthy giraffes, maintaining genetic diversity while minimizing the distance giraffes have to be transported. The calves' father, Michael, is a particularly valuable asset to the program. Because of this, the two calves may eventually be transported to other zoos as a part of the breeding program, but will stay at Santa Barabara Zoo until they are about two years old. 

See more photos below the fold.

A Lucky 13 New Flamingo Chicks for Santa Barbara Zoo

The Santa Barbara Zoo is flush with Chilean Flamingo chicks - thirteen of them to be exact. The past two months have been very successful breeding time for their Flamingo flock. Eight of the new chicks are now on exhibit for visitors to enjoy. The additional five are being hand-raised in the zoo's vet hospital, where they are fed special formula and are doing well. 

Flamingo chicks have downy grey feathers for the first two years of their lives before they take on the light pink color of adults. Their spindly legs need to be strengthened enough to hold up their conparatively large bodies, so the chicks will be encouraged to do their exercise -- daily walks and swims -- as they grow.

Chilean Flamingos do come from Chile but are also found in southern Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and southern Brazil They tend to live and nest in saltwater lakes and lagoons. This lovely bird is classed as Near Threatened.

Photo Credit: Sarah Varsik

Five More Otter Pups Make a Family of Eleven!

There's a new crew at the water's edge at the Santa Barbara Zoo - a second litter of baby Asian small-clawed Otters, five in all! Born on May 21, at fourteen weeks old and weighing 3.3 pounds, the new pups have been kept in a den by their parents behind the scenes until they grew their waterproof fur, and were old enough to swim and eat solid food.

The babies join their six older siblings who, at just over a year old help mom and dad in the care of the new pups, thus learning important pup-rearing skills for their own future as parents. This makes for a total of thirteen otters in the group. Their exhibit’s three-foot deep pool has been sectioned off for the new pups’ safety and will reopen next week when the pups are mature enough to dive. The Santa Barbara Zoo reports this whole passel of otters is delighting their guests!

Photo Credit: Sheri Horiszny/Santa Barbara Zoo

The parents - mom, Jillian, and dad, Bob - arrived at the Zoo in 2010 and were paired as part of a cooperative breeding program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Jillian is one year and ten months old and was born at the Bronx Zoo. Bob, aged three years and six months, came from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

 

Piles o' Pups for Santa Barbara Zoo

Bob and Jillian, the Santa Barabara Zoo's two parent Asian small-clawed otters, have produced another healthy litter of pups (not yet on view) and they recently opened their little eyes for the first time! The new litter of 3 females and 3 males was born on May 21 and they are being raised and cared for in their off-exhibit nesting box by mom and dad and the pair's first litter of 5 pups born last August. As in the wild where the parents keep their pups in a den, these young otters will not leave their behind-the-scenes nesting area for several months; keepers estimate early August.

 

Photo credits: Sheri Horiszny

Endangered Golden Lion Tamarin Clings to Mom

A bright orange Golden Lion Tamarin has been born at the Santa Barbara Zoo. This is the second viable birth at the Zoo of this small endangered species of monkey from the Brazilian rainforests (called “GLTs” by keepers). Adult GLTs weigh about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds and are roughly ten inches tall, with tails up to 15 inches long. The infant is currently about the size of a C-battery and spends most of its time clinging to its mother’s back. It appears to be in good health and will be examined by the Zoo veterinarian when it is old enough, to determine its sex, weight and other medical details. The Zoo has exhibited GLTs since 1983.

Photo credits: Katie Clemons

Santa Barbara's Surprise Giraffe!

Zookeepers at the Santa Barbara Zoo were somewhat surprised but certainly delighted to discover that one of the Zoo’s new Masai Giraffes, Audrey, had given birth to a male calf on Sunday morning, January 9. The calf, named Daniel by donors, was measured at 5-feet 9-inches tall and 106 pounds. He will not be on view to the public for several weeks until he learns to come in from the Giraffe yard to the barn for feedings by keepers. “Unbeknownst to us, Audrey arrived in Santa Barbara in March 2010 approximately five months pregnant,” notes Sheri Horiszny, Director of Animal Programs. “Nothing in her records indicated that Los Angeles Zoo keepers had ever seen their male showing interest in her or attempting to breed her.”

Photo credits: Sheri Horiszny / Santa Barbara Zoo

Santa Barbara's Otters about to Debut

The Santa Barbara Zoo's otter pups we featured in September are nearly ready to meet the public - a November debut will soon be announced. With their tiny claws emerging and fully-opened eyes, they now to look like miniature versions of their parents. At this stage, they stay close to their parents and spend a lot of time huddling together in the den. However, they also periodically emerge to take swimming lessons in shallow water with their parents. In the wild, this species is threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and pollution.

Five Baby Otters, First Pups in 20 Years for Santa Barbara!

For the first time in over 20 years, the Santa Barbara Zoo is hearing the high pitched squeals of baby Asian Small-clawed Otter pups. Eventually these otters will be among the most playful and active of baby animals, but for now they are safe and cozy in the den with their parents. Over the next three months, their eyes will fully open, their claws will emerge and they will get swimming lessons in shallow water with their parents as instructors. This vulnerable species was bred at the Santa Barbara Zoo as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) to ensure healthy genetic diversity for this species in North American zoos.

Many more pics and much more info below the fold

Super Fluffy Penguin Puff Explosion

Wild Humboldt penguins are vulnerable to extinction in the wild and institutions like the Santa Barbara Zoo are working diligently to ensure that captive populations represent the most genetic diversity possible. The parents of these little chicks were carefully selected for this purpose but they also must have been an exceptionally good looking penguin couple, since these are some of the best penguin chick pictures yet!

The first pictures feature Desi, born March 16th, as a young chick and a fluffy, waddling juvenile:

See pictures of Desi's younger sibling below the fold!

All Aboard the Capybara Train

The Santa Barbara Zoo's four new 4-month-old capybaras are now out on exhibit near the courtyard as of Tuesday, March 2, 2010. This adorable litter, consisting of 3 males and 1 female, came to the Santa Barbara Zoo from the Alameda Park Zoo in New Mexico. Capybaras are the world's largest rodent from Central and South America, and can grow up to 4 feet long and 100-150 pounds! Nicknamed "swamp hogs," capybaras are dependent on water and well adapted to it - they even have webbed feet. Capybaras swim and dive freely and can stay submerged underwater for up to five minutes. They also wallow in water to protect skin from hot sun. Like all rodents, capybaras must chew and gnaw to wear down continually growing teeth. They tend to live in groups of about 20 adults.