On January 22, two baby short-eared elephant shrews were born at ZOOM Erlebniswelt in Germany.

At birth, they were slightly smaller than your thumb tip. Elephant-shrews are precocial, which means they can open their eyes as soon as they are born. They can see and hear almost immediately and are running and jumping within hours. This is crucial for their survival in nature.

There was plenty of rubber necking at Taronga Western Plains Zoo on Saturday 21 January when the Giraffe herd welcomed a new arrival.

The healthy male calf, named Shomari, arrived late in the afternoon, much to the delight of watching keepers, guests and volunteers.

There are now five Giraffe calves in the herd! Watch Keeper Glyn's update to find out more.

We’re catching up with Bruno, the now just over 2.5-month-old Gorilla Infant born at Fort Worth Zoo in November.

Baby Bruno is standing (with help from Mom)! Infant gorillas grow and develop much faster than human babies do, so although Bruno is only about 2.5 months old, he’s right on time! You’ll notice him squirming around a lot more these days, reaching out or crawling on his mom when she’s trying to nap.

A gorilla infant can control its head and neck movements shortly after birth and will be able to crawl at about 3 months old. 

It was born before four o'clock in the morning, weighs 135 grams and resembles a living spruce cone. The first Pangolin pup to come into the world not only at Prague Zoo, but throughout Europe.

"We are very happy, but at the same time we realize that the next days may be critical," warns Prague Zoo director Miroslav Bobek.  "However, the female Run Hou Tang, which we received from Taipei Zoo, has already successfully bred the cub, so the chances of survival of the cub should be quite high."

January 5, 2023 — Award winning Yorkshire Wildlife Park is celebrating the arrival of a litter of Maned Wolves.  

The five cute pups, who haven’t been named yet, are delighting visitors as they cautiously start to explore the Atlantic Forest reserve under the watchful gaze of their parents.  

Sometimes called “the Last Wild Horse,” Its Birth Is the First at the Safari Park in Almost a Decade

SAN DIEGO (Jan. 27, 2023) – Conservationists at the nonprofit San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance have announced the birth of a Przewalski’s horse —a critically endangered species of wild horse that was categorized as Extinct in the Wild until 1996. The foal is the first Przewalski’s horse born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 2014, and is one of only four individuals born in North America over the past year.

Like their adult animal companions, baby animals at Schönbrunn Zoo act as ambassadors for their fellow animals in the wild. This is because the greatest and saddest commonality remains the threat of habitat loss and extinction by humans.

"Conservation breeding is a central task of modern, scientifically managed zoos and aquariums in order to secure the existence of endangered animal species through reserve populations," says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck.

A healthy elephant calf was born early this morning at WILDLANDS Adventure Zoo Emmen, The Netherlands. It was soon clear that it is a male, after which his keepers gave him the name Nagarr . That's "little dragon" in Burmese. It is the first time that mother Swe Zin (herself born on August 8, 2007 at Emmen) has given birth to a calf. Security footage shows that she gave birth lying down, which has not been observed before by the animal caretakers in Emmen in an elephant delivery.

Shani the giraffe gave birth to a female calf on Sunday, January 22, at 12:28pm. Her Sacramento Zoo zookeepers noted signs of an impending birth on January 18, and Shani was moved into the maternity stall of the giraffe barn to be monitored. Although animal care and veterinary teams were suspicious that she might still be pregnant, just not on her original timeline, there were no definitive signs until very recently.

A rare tree kangaroo joey – the first to ever be born at Chester Zoo – has emerged from its mum’s pouch for the first time.

Conservationists have caught on camera the remarkable moment the tiny new joey – an endangered Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo – peeked out from mum Kitawa’s pouch.

The birth has been hailed as a “real celebration” for the conservation breeding programme which is working to protect the highly threatened species from extinction  - with only two zoos in the UK caring for the animals.

It’s the first time Chester Zoo has bred the species in its 91-year history where, in a bid to discover more about the elusive creatures, conservationists have documented the growth of the joey using a special endoscope camera carefully placed into Kitawa’s pouch every few weeks.

Experts say the data collected could help tree kangaroos, as well as other similar threatened species found in South East Asia, and their plight in the wild.

David White, Team Manager at the zoo, said:

“Kitawa’s joey is the first Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo to ever be born at Chester Zoo in its 91 year-long history, so it’s a real celebratory moment for the team and our efforts to protect this highly endangered species.

“Tree kangaroos have one of the most complex birthing processes in the animal kingdom. When a joey is first born it’s only the size of a jellybean and is incredibly underdeveloped. Moments after the birth, with eyes still tightly closed, the joey knows to instinctively crawl up mum’s belly and into her pouch – following a channel which she has marked out by licking her fur.  Once safely in the pouch, the baby receives all of the nutrition it needs while it grows and develops for a further six months – up until it starts to pop its head out.

“With little being known about these shy and elusive creatures, small mammal experts at our conservation zoo are in a unique position to be able to capture and document the whole process around the development of Kitawa’s joey. These observations could be useful to help inform better conservation action for this wonderful, but sadly endangered species, in the wild.

“The new baby will soon emerge from the pouch fully and begin hopping around and learning to climb trees, under the watchful eye of mum. That’s when we’ll be able to determine if it’s male or female and give the youngster a fitting name.”

Much smaller than the well known Australian kangaroo species, the Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo is a tree-dwelling marsupial, using their their strong limbs for climbing and tails for balance. The species is native to the mountainous rainforests of Papua New Guinea where they are under threat from hunting and habitat destruction – losing more than half of its population in the last 30 years.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the species as endangered in the wild – with conservationists calling for more close monitoring of the animals in their native range.

Dave added:

“These remarkable animals have suffered tremendously in the wild. They are hunted for their meat and their habitat is disappearing around them as forests are cleared for timber and to make way for coffee and rice plantations.

“Zoo conservationists are working with our partners and local communities in areas of South East Asia to make sustainable farming practices the norm, helping to prevent further deforestation across the region while protecting what’s left of the precious forests – home to many of the world’s most threatened species, like the Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo.”