Photo credits: Ray Meibaum/Saint Louis Zoo

A little Zoo present has popped up just in time to give a pounce of holiday cheer! “Nokopo” (pronounced NOH-koh-poh), a female Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo joey, has begun poking her head out from within her mother’s pouch at their habitat in Emerson Children’s Zoo at the Saint Louis Zoo. Six months ago Nokopo, nicknamed Noko, was born the size of a lima bean. She immediately moved into her mother’s pouch to be nurtured and developed, and has since grown to be the size of a small cat. She is named after a village in Papua New Guinea.

This past October Australia's Adelaide Zoo welcomed a newborn female Mandrill to first time mother Niari. Adelaide Zoo’s Mandrills have not bred in a number of years but first time mom Niari is reportedly doing quite well with her little one. To date no keeper assistance has been needed, which can be the case with some first time mothers. The baby is almost two months old now and can be seen throughout the exhibit riding along with Mom, suckling, and starting to explore her surroundings. Although inquisitive she still stays close to Niari.

The Mandrill is the world's largest species of monkey and is found in the tropical rainforests and occasionally woodlands of southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo.  Mandrills are listed as vulnerable as a result of intensive hunting pressure and habitat loss across their native region.

Photo credits: David Mattner for Zoos South Australia

It's a world record! On December 9, 2010, at 3:30am, Hannover Adventure Zoo welcomed its 5th Baby Elephant birth this year. According to the zoo, never before have five baby Asian Elephants been born in a zoo within a calendar year! "The tiny Elephant girl is doing well, as is mother Khaing Hnin Hnin, who gave birth to her fourth child unassisted by the zoo staff and without any complications at all. We are all extremely happy" said zoo director Klaus-Michael Machens. Mother and daughter will now be resting behind the scenes for a few days, getting to know each other as well as the rest of the Elephant family.

Photo and video credits: Hannover Zoo

Among the rarest mammals, the Somali Wild Ass is a critically endangered subspecies of African Wild Ass, which is itself critically endangered. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey. While the exact size of the small population left in the wild is unknown, about 200 Somali Wild Asses live in zoos around the world, 35 of which were bred at Switzerland's Zoo Basel! Born November 16th, this beautiful young foal, named Hakaba, explores her enclosure for the first time, cautiously sniffing at first, then exuberantly running!

In October we brought you the story of Loro Parque's newborn Killer Whale calf. Today we received an update from this Spanish aquarium with some fascinating footage. Unfortunately the mother Orca was not feeding her baby properly so aquarists stepped in to hand feed the rambunctious calf. In order to do this, keepers needed to extract milk from mom. Lucky for them, mom seems happy to oblige as seen in the video at the bottom. In the first video, we get up close and personal with the calf as he bottle feeds. 

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo staff are celebrating after a challenging Asian Rhino calf birth. Baby Karamat, which means miracle in Nepalese, was born breeched (back feet first) to mom Beluki and as a result was traumatized and unable to suckle properly. Despite attempts by keepers and vets to entice the calf to latch on, things were looking bleak when after 24 hours she still had not taken any of her mother’s milk.

Staff, who were camped out in sleeping bags in the next door hay barn, took the rare step of intervening. Their job was complicated by the fact that not just any milk would do. As a newborn, the calf needed colostrum, which is the special milk high in antibodies produced by mammals in late stage pregnancy. Lucky for Karamat, there were local farmers and local pregnant dairy cows willing to share! After sourcing special colostrum milk, high in antibodies, from local dairy farmers, they fed the youngster by bottle.

Over the next few days and nights keepers and vets worked relentlessly to keep the youngster alive. Finally, after three long days and two overnight vigils the calf responded to their efforts and started feeding by herself from Beluki

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Today Shedd Aquarium's baby Beluga calf, Nunavik, turns one year old! A healthy, happy and playful little tyke of 450 lbs., it's hard to believe that Nunavik almost did not survive his first day. Complications with the birth were overcome by Shedd's outstanding veterinary staff. Today Nunavik loves nothing more than mimicing the antics of mom, Puiji, and enrichment time with Shedd aquarists.

Photo credits: Shedd Aquarium

See Nunavik's newborn photos here and check-out Shedd's Facebook page for many more baby beluga pictures and ongoing updates.

An orphaned baby Wombat is receiving round the clock care at Taronga’s Wildlife Hospital. The little female joey, now named ‘Mirrhi’, was rescued from along the Hume Highway where its mother had sadly been struck and killed by a car. Mirrhi now has a new mother, wildlife nurse Amy, who takes her home every night. Photos by Lorinda Taylor.

Photo credits: Lorinda Taylor / Taronga Zoo

More pics below the fold...

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, managers of one of the largest collections of prosimians in the country, is happy to announce the November 15 birth of an infant Mohol Bush Baby, one of fewer than 15 Bush Babies on exhibit in all of North America. The as-yet-unnamed little Bush Baby is the offspring of mother, Yetty, and father, Yaupon, one of only four breeding Bush Baby pairs in North America. The two Bush Babies came to Cleveland from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle when they closed their nocturnal exhibit.

Photo credits: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo