ZooBorns

And Babies Make Three: ZooAmerica's Trio of Black-tailed Prairie Dog Kits

ZooAmerica in Hershey, Pennsylvania is now home to 11 baby Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. The babies round out the Zoo’s Prairie Dog colony to a total of 20. These playful and sometimes vocal rodents were first spotted at the beginning of May and continue to be an entertaining highlight for visitors to the Big Sky Country region of the Zoo. A member of the squirrel family, as adults they will grow to weigh between 1-3 pounds and 13-17 inches in length from nose to tail. Their lifespan in the wild is from 3-5 years ,but can be up to 8 years in captivity.

In the wild these rodents live on North America's prairies and open grasslands in only a fraction of their former numbers, in underground burrows. They make a series of tunnels, sectioned off for different purposes - sleeping quarters, nurseries and a latrine! Family groups, called coteries, share these burroww, their food, groom each other and supply protection from predators such as snakes, foxes and burrowing owls. 

Much of the Great Plains has been converted to farmland or pastures where Prairie Dogs are not welcome. Because their landscaping is considered destructive, they are often considered to be pests and killed. Where at one time they were arguably the most abundant mannal in North AMerica, about 98% of all Prairie Dogs were exterminated, while their range has shrunken to about 5 %.

Photo Credit: ZooAmerica

The Prairie Dogs are being bred at ZooAmerica to act as ambassadors for their species to teach and educate the public about their role in nature and why it is important to conserve and protect the places they are found. 

It's Two Tiny Roadrunner Chicks for ZooAmerica

Pennsylvania's ZooAmerica welcomed two Roadrunner chicks in June.These chicks will grow to be 20-24 inches (50-61 cm) from tail to beak and 10-12 inches (25.5-30.5 cm) tall. A large black-and-white mottled ground bird with a distinctive head crest, Roadrunners scurry across the terrain in American deserts, as depicted in the well-known Warner Bros. cartoons. It can fly, but for only short distances as its wingspan can't keep its large body in the air for long. These chicks are members of the Cuckoo family, characterized by feet with 2 forward toes and 2 behind. 

Roadrunners feed on insects, scorpions, lizards, snakes, rodents and other birds, supplementing their diet with plants in winter. Because of its lightening quickness, it can prey upon rattlesnakes. It snatches a coiled rattlesnake by the tail, cracks it like a whip and hits its head against the ground until it's dead. It swallows the snake, but often can't take in the entire length at one time. That doesn't stop the Roadrunner! It will continue to on it's way with the snake dangling from its mouth, consuming another inch or two as the snake slowly digests.

Photo Credit: ZooAmerica 

Read more about ZooAmerica's Roadrunners below the jump:

Three Baby Burrowing Owlets Hatched at ZooAmerica

Pennsylvania's ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park has expanded its animal family with the arrival of several new babies. Among them include these hand-raised baby Burrowing Owls that hatched at the end of May. The fertile eggs were brought to ZooAmerica from the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Unlike other owls, burrowing owls are active during the day and nest in the ground. The three Burrowing Owl chicks are currently in a holding area in the Animal Health Center, with plans to introduce two of them to The Great Southwest region in the future. The third owl will reside in the Zoo’s education department for outreach and onsite programming. The Zoo currently has one resident burrowing owl on exhibit. 

Like many zoos, ZooAmerica keeps most newborns off exhibit until the Zoo naturalists determine if the animal has matured enough to be placed on exhibit or sent to another zoo. These animals are kept in the Zoo’s Animal Health Center, where they are monitored and cared for daily. 

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Read more about ZooAmerica after the jump:

A Pile of Prairie Dog Pups

ZooAmerica recently welcomed sixteen tiny black-tailed prairie dogs. Highly social animals, prairie dogs frequently visit one another and greet by rubbing snouts, which people compare to a kiss.

 

ZOOAMERICA Welcomes New Additions: Baby Bobcats

ZOOAMERICA is now home to three adorable baby bobcats.  Born on May 5, the babies were given the signature names “Kit Kat,” “Reese” and “Hershey.”  Playful and curious, these kittens are very entertaining to watch.