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July 2009

Seeing Stripes in Oklahoma

A male Grevy's zebra foal was born on Monday, July 13 to parents Darasa, 11, and Tanga, 14, at the Oklahoma City Zoo. This is Darasa's fourth birth at the Zoo. The Grevy's zebra is the largest of the three zebra species and originates from parts of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. Although foals are born with brown stripes and fuzzy coats, they grow into their unique black-and-white stripes by one year of age. These stripes allow them to blend in to their natural habitat. Foals weigh 80 to 125 pounds at birth, but can grow to be over 900 pounds as adults!

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Skipping Zebra Baby

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What's an Owston's Civet?

Civets are small, lithe-bodied, mostly arboreal mammals native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The Owston's Palm Civet is a civet that lives in the forests and wooded lowland river basins of northern Vietnam, northern Laos, and southern China. These beautiful cubs are part of a conservation breeding programme at Newquay Zoo in Cornwall which also directly supports an overseas conservation project in the civets native home of Vietnam.

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There's a New Okapi in Town

Last month, Denver Zoo celebrated the birth of a rare okapi (Oh-kah-pee). The female calf, named Kalispell (Kal-i-spell), was born to mother, Iosi (Ee-oh-see), and father, Jekaro (Jeh-car-oh), on June 27, and is only the fifth birth of this species at the zoo. Kalispell will remain behind the scenes for a short while longer, but visitors will soon be able to see the youngster as she grows and becomes more self-sufficient.

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Okapis are known for their striped knee socks...

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A First for Twycross Zoo

Twycross Zoo is the only collection in the UK to exhibit and now breed the rare Tufted deer.  The small male fawn was born on 16th June 09 and weighed 1.5 kg at birth which is smaller than a bag of sugar.  Mother “Michelle” and father “Mitch” have been exceptional at rearing their first offspring.

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    Looking vulnerable...

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Zoo keepers have named the baby Ying Xiong (pronounced Ying Yong) which means hero in Chinese as this species originates from China.  The fawn is suckling from Michelle on demand and butts the teat in the same way a lamb does to stimulate the milk flow.


Unlikely Wet Nurse for Taiyuan Red Panda Cubs

How's this for a double take? These two Red Panda Cubs were abandoned at birth by their mother, and since have been nursed by a mother dog. The pair was born June 25th at north China's Taiyuan Zoo and are doing well thanks to their surrogate Mom.

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"Mom" takes the cubs in as her own.

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(AP Photo)

"Their mother, the first lesser panda bred at the zoo, was taken in from a nature reserve in the northwestern Shaanxi Province at the end of April. No one knew she was pregnant. Her plump body and bushy hair disguised her protruding belly until the babies were born," said zoo worker Ha Guo Jiang.


What's a Takin?

We here at ZooBorns have been waiting for great shots of a baby takin to share with you for quite some time and we are happy to say that the LA Zoo has delivered! On July 3rd they welcomed a baby female takin, a type of goat-antelope, like the serow we featured last week. The takin share their mountainous habitat with the giant panda and both are protected by the Chinese government.

Dad and baby have a moment

Baby Takin with Dad LA Zoo

Mom looks proud

Sichuan Takin LA Zoo 

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