ZooBorns

Twycross Zoo's Baby Crowned Lemur Snacks on a Little Grass

Keepers at Twycross Zoo are celebrating the arrival of a baby Crowned Lemur, born on April 11. Experienced mom Rose is doing a superb job. Infants are initially carried on the mother’s front but as they grow heavier they are moved onto her back. The father takes and active role in parenting as well. Tony Dobbs, Section Head of Primates, said: “The baby arrived a few days earlier than we had expected but both mum and baby are doing very well. While Rose is looking after the newborn, the father, Rik, has taken on the role of the proud, protective father.”

In the wild the Crowned Lemur is confined to a small patch of forest in Madagascar and listed on the IUCN Red List  as Vulnerable. There their population is decreasing because their habitat is in rapid decline principally due to heavy mining, illegal logging and hunting for food.

 

Photo Credit: Phillipa Dobson

Zoological Director, Sharon Redrobe, added: “The Crowned Lemur, like all the lemur species, is under threat in the wild and therefore the role of the captive population is becoming more and more important. A successful birth such as this is a huge boost to the conservation of this species.”

You can get a glimpse to the baby tucked into mom's hip on this video:

Read more about the baby's family at the zoo and find Crowned Lemur facts, after the fold:

Baby Gorilla Smiles for the Camera at Twycross Zoo

A baby Western Lowland Gorilla born at the United Kingdom’s Twycross Zoo on January 3 adds a third generation to their already close-knit Gorilla group.

The mother, Ozala, experienced a natural and stress-free birth and is keeping the new arrival very close to her.  Curator of Living Collections Charlotte Macdonald said, "Ozala is a confident, attentive mother and is taking great care of her baby.  The baby's father, our silverback Oumbie, is gentle but protective and is showing a lot of interest in the infant. On the day of the baby's birth he was very inquisitive, sitting beside Ozala and putting his face right up to the baby to smell it.”

Photo credits: Gillian Day taken at Twycross Zoo

 

Ozala was born at Twycross Zoo in 1994. The newborn joins a family unit made up of father Oumbi and grandmother, Biddi. Ozala's half-sister Asante will also provide a helping hand as the young Gorilla grows up.

Charlotte added: "The baby will be carried around by mum for the next couple of years but will, of course, gradually become more independent, just going back to Ozala for reassurance and comfort.”

Listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, fewer than 100,000 Western Lowland Gorillas remain in the wild, bringing the species dangerously close to extinction. Hunting, habitat loss and the Ebola virus have contributed to the species’ decline.

Zoological Director Sharon Redrobe added: "Because the Western Lowland Gorilla is such an endangered species every Gorilla birth is important, and this infant represents another vital contribution to the European Endangered Species breeding programme and to the conservation of this species.”

See more photos below the fold.

Twycross Welcomes a Tapir Toddler

On Friday, October 19th the Twycross Zoo welcomed a female Brazilian Tapir calf to Muffin (mom) and Pele (dad). The healthy calf has been suckling well and exhibiting bursts of exuberance, romping around her enclosure and then retreating to the indoor area for a snooze.

Tapirs give birth to a single youngster after a gestation period of about 13 months. The baby has a striped and spotted coat which she will lose as she grows older. Brazilian Tapirs are found in lowland regions of northern and central South America and listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Redlist. This young female Tapir born only a week ago at Twycross Zoo will play a very important role in the European Breeding Programme of this species.

Snouts up!

Photo credits: Twycross Zoo

Triple Play! Capybara Babies at Twycross Zoo

A trio of Capybara babies were born at Twycross Zoo this month and they are out in the sunshine, exploring their habitat. Capybara usually only breed once a year, and have a gestation period of 5 months, giving birth to up to 8 young. The babies are born weighing just about 2 pounds (.91 kgs).

The Capybara can be found in several types of social groupings, ranging from simple male-female pairings, to parents and young to larger mixed groups, with one male that is dominant over all the females in that group. Here the little ones mix easily with the adults, but look pretty small in comparison!

The babies nostrils, eyes and ears are all positioned on top of its head because they will spend a lot of time in the water -- and in the wild, they'd need to look out for predators while swimming. Their webbed toes will help them become both excellent swimmers and divers. Their diet is based on water based vegetation and grasses. Water plants, young buds and soft tree bark are eaten in the day and fresh grass in the evening.

The range of the Capybara covers much of South America east of the Andes down to south Uruguay where they inhabit densely vegetated areas around ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps.

Photo Credit: Twycross Zoo

 

 

Baby Bonobo Born at Twycross Zoo!

Twycross Zoo is pleased to announce the birth of an extremely important baby Bonobo! In the early hours of Friday 6th January 2012, Maringa gave birth to a baby girl weighing in at a very healthy 1.44 kilograms after an eight and a half month pregnancy. 

Charlotte Macdonald, Living Collection Curator, said: "When keepers arrived at the enclosure to find Maringa had given birth, they noticed the baby was strong and alert but not actually on mum. She was being kept warm and safe by another female Bonobo within the group." 

"Maringa has had difficulty raising her young in the past therefore we have been planning for this birth in conjunction with the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) since last summer. Donna Smithson, one of our Bonobo keepers, visited Frankfurt Zoo last year to observe how they trained one of their female bonobos to be a foster mum, in the event that Maringa showed no interest in the newborn." Charlotte said.

Photo credits: Twycross Zoo

Good News! Critically Endangered Spider Monkey Born at Twycross Zoo

Born December 8, these are the early pictures of a new baby Veriegated Spider Monkey at the UK's Twycross Zoo. This is the first Spider monkey baby born there in 10 years. And as you can see, the baby's mum takes good care to cradle her baby when outdoors. At times, the whole family gathers round while the baby sleeps, secure on it's mother's shoulder.

Veriegated Spider monkeys are critically endangered due to habitat loss, hunting and the pet trade and are listed as one of the 25 most endangered primates by IUCW. It's estimated that over 90% of their natural habitat in northern Columbia and north-western Venezuelais is already gone and of the approximately 60 Spider monkeys in Eurpoean zoos, there were no births in the year of May 2009-2010. That makes this baby a very valuable and important addition to the remaining population.

Photo Credits: Gillian Day

Read more after the jump:

Baby Gorilla Nurtured Back to Health

Okanda, the six-month-old baby gorilla at Twycross Zoo in baby gorilla has been extremely poorly and their vet Sarah has been living with him around the clock as she helps nurse him back to health. We discovered a problem with his mothers milk which meant the young primate was not getting the nutrients he needed. They had to sedate his mother, Ozala, while keepers hurried the infant to the on-site vet.

Sarah is now living with Okanda at an undisclosed location; She is only communicating with the infant through grunts, mimicking the sounds and actions of a primate so not to expose him to human influence.

Vet and director of life sciences at the zoo Sharon Redrobe said: "We're very pleased with his progress but we thought we were going to lose him. It's been very touch and go. He was so thin and he doesn't want to be left alone because after all he's still only a baby. Sarah isn't holding him like a human baby, or talking to him, just grunting and grooming him like his mother would do."

Okanda was put on a drip and had a feeding tube placed in his stomach as he was not strong enough to feed from a bottle. He was then fed powdered baby milk every three hours while his condition was continuously assessed. For the past few days, staff have been weaning the youngster off milk and on to solid foods, such as bananas and food pellets.

Sharon said: "He was really quiet until yesterday, but now he's starting to play and make gorilla noises. He's started biting Sarah, which is a good sign for him, but not so good for Sarah."

‘We hope he will be back with his mum in about eight weeks. Gorillas are intelligent animals and it's clear she misses him. We were worried that she would go off her food and we'd have to care for her too, but luckily we've not had any serious problems."

Photo Credit: Twycross Zoo

That's a Baby Cuscus, Not a Baby Couscous!

The UK's Twycross Zoo's Cuscus keepers were lucky enough to capture these amazing photos when the baby Cuscus, approximately 2 months old, ventured out of mums pouch! This marsupial, native to New Guinea and the surrounding islands, is nocturnal, though native New Guineans describe seeing Ground CusCus sunning themselves in the ealry morning hours! Cuscus are known in the wild to dwell on the ground and in burrows part of the time, while spending nights foraging in the treetops.

Photo credit: Twycross Zoo

A Pouncing Pair of Snow Leopard Cubs

A pouncing pair of Snow Leopard cubs recently appeared on the scene in their main enclosure at the Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, England. And they've just gotten a check up by the vets! Born in June, they are yet to be named.

Parents Suou and Irma arrived at Twycross in May 2010 as part of the international breeding program. The birth of the cubs is a significant contribution to the conservation of Snow Leopards which are currently listed as endangered.

Sharon Redrobe Twycross Zoo's Director of Life Sciences said. "I am proud and delighted at this successful first breeding at Twycross Zoo. Our animal staff have worked hard to ensure the best conditions for the snow leopards to breed and their hard work and expertise has paid off in these delightful additions to the European breeding program."

"The dad is not currently in the enclosure with them as they need to be slightly older before he is introduced to them,'she continued, "but he has been chuffing through the separating enclosure - a big cat greeting."

Photo Credit:Twycross Zoo

 

Marvin the Spider Monkey Meets Life on White

ZooBorns is pleased to share brand new pictures from the Life on White team, which aims to create the largest collection of animals photographed on white backgrounds. Featured on ZooBorns a few months back, Marvin the Red-faced Spider Monkey was born in May at the UK's Twycross Zoo. Marvin is the third animal Life on White found here at ZooBorns. According to Monori: "Our photo sessions generally take place over one week. We travel with one or two assistants in our camping car (in Europe) from one photo shoot to another. All the animals are photographed in their own environment/home so that they do not suffer any stress linked to transport or to unknown environments."

Marvin throwin' shapes...

 

Keep up the great work Gabor!