One of the world’s most endangered species, a brown kiwi, hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Bird House, early Tuesday morning, March 30. The chick spent yesterday in an incubator but today was was transferred to a specially designed brooding box. The box will be not be on exhibit, but is accessible via the Zoo's webcam. Since kiwis are nocturnal, the best time to view the chick exploring and foraging in its box will be in the evening.

Photo credits: Mehgan Murphy / National Zoo

Love kiwis and looking for an excuse to visit Washington DC? Check out the National Zoo's Meet a Kiwi program!

Just days after officially being named Pathi Harn (pronounced ‘par tea harn’ and meaning 'miracle' in Thai), elephant baby Mr. Shuffles enjoyed a mud bath with older cousin Luk Chai. Shuffles, who was thought to have died during labor, continues to thrive at Sydney Australia's Taronga Zoo. Today marked his 3 week birthday!

Photo Credits: Bobby-Jo Vial

Watch a video and read more about the 'Miracle Calf' below the fold!

Since 1976 the Mystic Aquarium's Seal Rescue Clinic has treated over 300 marine mammals from tiny seal pups to stranded whales and released over 160 back into the ocean. Here is the tale of one recent rescue.

On January 25th, the International Fund for Animal Welfare located a lethargic baby gray seal on the beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts and transferred him to the Mystic Rescue Clinic in Connecticut later that day. The pup was only 7 to 10 days old and thought to have been abandoned by his mother.

While in the Seal Rescue Clinic, the pup was bottlefed and treated with antibiotics due to an elevated white blood cell count. Eventually the pup recovered, reaching a healthy 50 pounds and learning to catch fish on his own.

On March 25th the pup was released at Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown, R.I., joyfully returning to the sea.

Photo credits: Mystic Aquarium  

At the Bronx Zoo, Gertrude the mandrill baby treats her Congo Gorilla Forest home like a jungle gym—and her mom Louise as a giant plaything! The zoo's special exhibits season kicks off this weekend and Gertrude makes her debut.  

Look out Mom!


Photo Credits: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS

Within 24 hours of the birth of an endangered Grevy’s zebra foal on St. Patrick’s Day, Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo welcomed another offspring: a southern White Rhinoceros.  The rhino calf was born in the early morning hours on Thursday, March 18, to first-time mother “Kidogo” in the African rhino boma (barn) which houses the animals overnight.  The birth marks the first southern white rhino calf in the Zoo’s history, and the second birth in two days of animals sharing a habitat (southern white rhinos and Grevy’s zebra).

A baby De Brazza's monkey named Kanani was born December 19th at the Denver Zoo. An adventurous and independent-minded little monkey, Kanani likes to wriggle away from mom and explore her surroundings on her own. Kanani's father was rescued from a black market in Africa as a baby and mother Kisoro was born at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

Old World primates, De Brazza's monkeys are notable for their habit of freezing in place and remaining totally still when they sense danger. Clearly the animated little Kanani in the video below is not too worried.

Bactrian camels are critically endangered in the wild and the St. Louis Zoo is helping to preserve the species with their latest birth. This shaggy little male calf, born to parents Minnie and Elvis, will reach 1,600-1,800 lbs. in adulthood! Camels are famous for carrying people across the deserts of the Middle East and Africa but they actually originated in North America and migrated across the Bering Strait. 

The population at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium grew last Friday with the birth of three North American river otters. They are so lethally cute, we have dubbed them the "Thermonuclear Otter Triplets." Zoo staff accessed the den for a quick health check and confirmed the birth of three males each weighing between five and six ounces.  The pups will remain secluded in the den with their mother for approximately two months when she will bring them outdoors and teach them to swim.

Photo credits: Grahm Jones

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Keepers at Chessington zoo are bringing up a baby meerkat by hand after he was rejected by his parents. According to African popular belief (mainly in the Zambian/Zimbabwean region), the meerkat is known as the sun angel, as it protects villages from the moon devil or the werewolf which is believed to attack stray cattle or lone tribesmen.

Australia's Taronga Western Plains Zoo has welcomed the arrival of a female Black Rhino calf born in the early hours of Wednesday 17 February 2010 to first-time mother Bakhita. Both mother and calf will remain off display in behind-the-scenes paddocks over the coming weeks to ensure that Bakhita has time to adapt to her new role as mother and that her calf can familiarize itself with its new surroundings.

Photo Credits: Kate Geraghty

More pictures after the jump!