Staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are raising three Snowy Plover chicks, an Endangered species. The aquarium's experienced rehabilitators believe these little guys have an excellent chance of being successfully re-released back into the wild. 

Some well-meaning beachgoers brought two tagged chicks to the aquarium for care, thinking that they had been abandoned. Because breeding pairs and nest sites are carefully monitored, it was possible to figure out what nest the chicks had come from and to discover that the father was still caring for his one remaining chick. 

Photo credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Representatives of California State Parks and Point Blue Conservation Science carefully placed a cage over the chick to keep the parent close by until aquarium staff could arrive with the other two chicks. They then placed all three chicks in the enclosure to give the dad a chance to see them.  After ensuring that the male was interested in the chicks, the cage was removed the cage and he began caring for all three once again. 

Unfortunately, the father seems to have changed his mind, and all three chicks are now being raised at the aquarium. Fortunately, they have been rehabilitating Snowy Plover chicks since 2000, with dozens of successful releases. 

See and learn more after the fold.

Here’s a sure sign of spring from Zoo Basel in Switzerland: eight colorful Silkie chickens have hatched and are now cheeping and pecking away.

The colourful little balls of fluff are exploring their surroundings and pecking at anything that looks remotely like grain. At the first sign of danger they fly back beneath their mother's protective feathers. The eight chicks can be seen in the stall in the coming weeks, and will join the rest of the chicken brood once they are a little larger. 

Photo credit: Zoo Basel

The hens at the children’s zoo incubate their own eggs and then rear the chicks. A few days before hatching, the chicks begin to cheep, hearing their mother’s sounds through the shell of the egg. After a brooding period of 21 days, the chicks break out from inside the eggshells using their 'egg tooth’, a protuberance on the beak which recedes after the chick has hatched. The newly hatched chicks are already able to feed on their own.

The Silkie chicken is a breed of domestic fowl. Its distinctive feature is its plumage, which almost resembles fine fur. This fine silkiness stems from the fact that the chickens do not have the little hooks, called barbules, which ‘zip’ the barbs of a flight feather together to create a stiff surface. 

The first Humboldt Penguin chicks of 2014 have hatched at Chester Zoo in England. With the first chick hatched and healthy, the only real headache for keepers was what to call their new charge – and the others due to hatch after him. Last year’s clutch were named after characters from the hit TV show Dr Who. This year they are named after past and present superstars of the football (or soccer) World Cup. 

Weighing just  3 ounces (87 g), baby chick Rooney (shown above; named after England forward Wayne) is one of the first Humboldt Penguins to hatch at the zoo this year. Rooney has already been joined by Gerrard (after current England captain Steven), Banks (after 1966 World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon) and Moore (after 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby). 

Photo credit: Chester Zoo / Steve Rawlins

Lead Penguin Keeper Karen Neech said, “Choosing names for the chicks is always a poser but with one eye on the World Cup we decided to kick off this year’s football campaign with some stars of our own. 

“Footballers have very strict diets and things are just the same for our new arrivals. But whereas footballers can look forward to a protein shake ours grow strong on a diet of regurgitated ‘fish smoothie’ provided by their parents.”

The new arrivals mean the zoo now has a colony of over 35 Humboldt Penguins.

Read more after the fold.

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens has announced the birth of a healthy Takin! She was born on February 12 and can now be seen on exhibit.

Related to sheep, Takin are a goat-antelope found in the eastern Himalayas. There are four different subspecies: the Sichuan or Tibetan Takin, the Mishmi Takin, the Shaanxi or Golden Takin, and the Bhutan Takin. The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

Photo credit: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Takin live in family groups of up to 30 individuals, and travel seasonally to feed on leaves and grasses at different elevations. They are found in grassy alpine zones as well as forested valleys. Threatened by overhunting and habitat loss and fragmentation, the species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. 

Three new chicks have joined the Oregon Zoo’s Humboldt Penguin colony! Visitors can look for the young penguins this summer, once the chicks fledge and begin to explore the rugged terrain of the zoo’s penguinarium, which simulates the endangered birds’ native habitat along the rocky coast of Chile and Peru.

For now, keepers say, the recent arrivals are keeping cozy in their nest boxes, growing strong on a diet of regurgitated 'fish smoothie' provided by their parents. The first Humboldt hatchling of the year, who arrived March 11 to parents Milo and Vivo, has already been eating with enough gusto to have earned the nickname Porker.

Photo credit: Oregon Zoo / Michael Durham

“The chicks look like velvety gray plush toys,” said curator Michael Illig, who oversees the zoo’s birds and species recovery programs. “They weigh just a few ounces and can fit in the palm of your hand.”

By summer, the chicks will be nearly as tall as the adult Humboldts, but easy to tell apart by their plumage: They will be grayish-brown all over and won’t develop the distinctive black-and-white tuxedo markings for a couple more years.

Read more after the fold.

Four Lion cubs born on March 6 at Zoo Miami were viewed in person for the first time last week after spending more than a month in the den with their mother.

Photo Credit:  Ivy Brower

Until now, zoo keepers have viewed the new family only by closed circuit camera.  Last week, they were able to temporarily separate the mother, four-year-old Kashifa, to get a closer look at the cubs.  

In the wild, Lion cubs remain in the den or hidden in brush for about six weeks, when they are old enough to join the pride.  Zoo Miami’s four cubs are not yet on public display, and are expected to remain behind the scenes with Kashifa for a few more weeks.

See more cub photos below!

After a 10-year wait, keepers at Australia’s Taronga Western Plains Zoo are thrilled with the birth of two male Oriental Small-clawed Otter pups on January 24.

Photo Credit:  Taronga Zoo

This is the first offspring for the mother, Emiko, and the father, Pocket.  Both parents are displaying ideal nurturing behaviours. “Emiko and Pocket are being really attentive parents, we are really happy with their nurturing behaviors, as they are both first-time parents so it is a big learning curve for them,” said Senior Keeper Ian Anderson.

According to keepers, Pocket is very paws-on with parenting.  He helped Emiko build the nest before the pups' birth and now helps provide food and care for the growing pups. 

The zoo had been trying to successfully breed Oriental Small-clawed Otters for the past ten years. “We had tried a number of different pairings during this time but finally got the right match with Emiko and Pocket,” Anderson said. 

Read more and see more photos below.

A Somali Wild Ass has been born at Zoo Basel in Switzerland! The foal, named Lakisha, was born quickly and easily on March 27. Zoo Basel is a world leader in the conservation of this Critically Endangered species: Lakisha is the forty-first Somali Wild Ass to be born and raised at this zoo since 1972.

Mom Djara gave birth to her foal in the middle of the day. Coming head and front legs first, Lakisha plopped into the straw and was on her feet just half an hour later! It took another half an hour for the filly to nurse from her mother for the first time. No one was present at the birth and Djara could bond with Lakisha in peace.

Photo credit: Zoo Basel

Lakisha’s father, Gigolo, has been living at Stuttgart Zoo in Germany since last November. The breeding of Somali Wild Asses in captivity is coordinated by a European Endangered Species Program, helping to ensure that pairings avoid inbreeding and produce healthy offspring. 

The Somali Wild Ass and Nubian Wild Ass are subspecies of the African Wild Ass. According the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are fewer than 1,000 African Wild Asses remaining in the wild. Their major threats are hunting for food and medicinal purposes, and competition with livestock for forage and sources of water.  The Somali subspecies occurs in small populations in Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.

See more photos after the fold.

Secret World Wildlife Rescue Center, a wildlife rehabilitation center in South West England, is busy taking care of spring's first badger cubs. The four rescued cubs were all found orphaned or abandoned, but they're in good hands now.

The first cub was named Hovis, after a UK brand of flour and bread, because the six-week old cub was about the size of a loaf of bread.  Since they usually go with a theme for naming badger cubs, the following rescues have been named Pannini, Warby, 50/50 and Nimble.

Photo credits: Secret World Wildlife Rescue; Marlies Hebdon (1); Vistoria Hillman (2, 4, 5) 

Secret World Wildlife Rescue is a charity that runs completely on donations. They are in special need of support right now because of recent flooding. If you would like to help out, you can make an online donation here.

See more photos after the fold!

The Tulsa Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a Jaguar cub, marking the third Jaguar birth at the zoo. This new addition was born on March 26 to mom, Ixchel, and dad, Bebeto. This is the second successful birth for the Jaguar pair, and another important contribution to Jaguar populations.

This birth was in conjunction with the Jaguar SSP, or the Species Survival Plan®, which manages species in Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoos across the nation. Native to the tropical rainforests of Mexico, Central and South America, Jaguars are considered near threatened due to habitat loss. There are currently more than 100 Jaguars in North American-accredited (AZA) zoos, while it is estimated that 10,000 Jaguars currently exist in the wild.

Photo credits 1 and 2: Dr. Jen Kilburn 

While the cub is doing well, its sibling did not survive the birthing process. The cub appeared to be stillborn as animal health staff closely watched the internal monitoring camera.

Staff continues to closely monitor Ixchel and her cub from remote cameras to ensure proper development and nursing. The cub’s first 30 days are critical, so both mom and cub will remain in a private, off-exhibit den in the Tropical American Rainforest.

Related articles

Jaguar Cub Bonds with Mom at Fort Worth Zoo

Sloth Bear Cub Gets TLC 24/7 at National Zoo

Tulsa Zoo Welcomes a Snow Leopard Cub

Sumatran Tiger Cubs are a Long-Awaited Victory at Smithonian's National Zoo