ZooBorns has more news to share from Bioparque M’Bopicuá, in Uruguay. A litter of three Azara’s Agouti was born at the park on October 30^th!

Photo Credits: Photo Credits: Montes del Plata/Bioparque M’Bopicuá

Azara’s Agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) is a South American Agouti species native to Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. The rodent species is named for Spanish naturalist, Felix de Azara.

Agoutis are related to guinea pigs and look quite similar, but they are larger and have longer legs. In the wild, they are shy animals and flee from humans, while in captivity they may become trusting.

Agoutis are found in forested and wooded areas, and they conceal themselves at night in hollow tree trunks or in burrows among roots. Active and graceful in their movements, their pace is either a kind of trot or a series of springs following one another so rapidly as to look like a gallop. They take readily to water, in which they swim well.

When feeding, Agoutis sit on their hind legs and hold food between their fore paws. They may gather in groups of up to 100 to feed. They eat fallen fruit, leaves and roots and may sometimes climb trees to eat green fruit. They will hoard food in small, buried stores. They are regarded as one of the few species that can open Brazil nuts without tools, mainly thanks to their strength and exceptionally sharp teeth.

Agoutis give birth to litters of two to four young after a gestation period of three months. Young are born into burrows lined with leaves, roots and hair. They are well developed at birth and may be up and eating within an hour. Fathers are barred from the nest while the young are very small, but the parents remain a pair for the rest of their lives. They can live for as long as 20 years, a remarkably long time for a rodent.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Azara’s Agouti is classified as “Data Deficient”. There is continuing uncertainty on the species distribution, threats and conservation measures. However, this species is suspected to be threatened, but there is still very little information on its extent of occurrence, status and ecological requirement.

A Margay, at Bioparque M’Bopicuá, in Uruguay, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy kitten on November 1^st. 

Photo Credits: Montes del Plata/Bioparque M’Bopicuá

The Margay is a small cat that’s native range extends from southern Mexico, through Central America and in northern South America east of the Andes. It is very similar to the larger Ocelot in appearance, although the head is a little shorter, the eyes larger, and the tail and legs longer. The Margay is a more skillful climber than the Ocelot.

The Margay is mostly nocturnal. Their diet consists of small mammals, birds, eggs, lizards and tree frogs. Since their habitat is in forested areas, it has been reported that the cat has the ability to achieve all of its hunting for prey entirely in trees. There have also been reports of Margays using auditory mimicry in an attempt to lure their prey.

Gestation, for the Margay, lasts about 80 days, and generally results in the birth of a single kitten. Kittens weigh 3.0 to 6.0 oz. (85 to 170 grams) at birth. This is relatively large for a small cat, and is probably related to the long gestation period. The young open their eyes at around two weeks of age, and begin to take solid food at seven to eight weeks.

The Margay is listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List. Remaining populations are declining due to habitat loss from forest conversions, and, until the 1990s, Margays were hunted illegally for the wildlife trade.

Bioparque M’Bopicuá, operated by Montes del Plata, in Uruguay, is comprised of a fauna breeding centre, an autochthonous flora trail and a historical area of high cultural value: the ruins of a meat preservation plant dating to the 19th century known as the “Saladero de M’Bopicuá.”

The main objective of the 150-hectare Bioparque M’Bopicuá bio-park is to breed wild fauna, especially endangered autochthonous species, and later introduce them to their natural habitats. Since it was established, the bio-park has reproduced and in some cases reintroduced various mammal, avian and reptile species. The current inventory consists of 560 specimens from 54 different species.

Some of the species that have been successfully bred include the Pampas Deer, Pampas Cat, Yellow Cardinal and the Broad-Snouted Caiman. In terms of reintroduction, various species have been freed into their natural habitat, in particular coatis and caimans.

Educational organizations, specialized groups and company employees can visit the Bioparque M'Bopicuá circuit to increase awareness and contact when there are no breeding activities taking place.

In March 2011, the bio-park was admitted as a member of the WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and declared to be of Departmental Interest by the Río Negro government.

Keepers at Taronga Western Plains Zoo welcomed their second Giraffe calf of 2014 when a female baby was born on October 19.

Photo Credit:  Taronga Western Plains Zoo

The new calf is named Ajali, which means “destiny” in Swahili. Ajali’s mother Tuli has delivered seven previous calves, so she is a very experienced mother.

Ajali already has a best friend – male calf Nkosi, who was born on August 3. 

“It is always nice to see youngsters on exhibit together and knowing that they have a companion close to their age. As they grow and develop, visitors will see the pair running around together and exhibiting playful behaviors,” said zoo keeper Anthony Dorrian.

“The calves are already starting to develop a relationship, as Nkosi is very curious about the new calf,”  said Dorrian.

Giraffe numbers have been decreasing in the wild by more than 30% in the past decade, with about 80,000 Giraffes remaining on Africa's savannahs. Poaching for bush meat and habitat encroachment by humans are having a drastic effect on the wild population.

“Every birth for a species such as the Giraffe that is experiencing a decline in the wild population is important, as it helps to insure against extinction,” said Dorrian. 

See more photos of Ajali below.

It's true!  Two False Gharials hatched at the Audubon Zoo in September are the first ever to hatch there and the first to hatch in captivity in the United States since 2009.

Photo Credit:  Audubon Zoo
False Gharials are freshwater crocodilians native to Southeast Asia.  They have long, very thin snouts and inhabit swamps and rivers in Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra.

The two hatchlings increase the population of False Gharials at the Audubon Zoo to four.  Only about 30 False Gharials live in American zoos.

Breeding False Gharials is difficult because they require jungle-like conditions in captivity.  Audubon Zoo had been trying for years to breed their pair of False Gharials, and finally achieved success. Melanie Litton, senior reptile keeper at Audubon, said the success may be due, in part, to putting the male Gharial on a diet. “Obesity can effect potency in all kinds of animals, including humans,” Litton said.

Of a clutch of about 20 eggs, two were successfully fertilized, she said. Audubon Zoo will keep one hatchling, while the other will go to the Houston Zoo.

They are only a few inches long now, but will grow up to 15 feet long in adulthood.

False Gharials are considered one of the most threatened of all crocodilians, and were alarmingly close to extinction in the 1970s. They are threatened by habitat loss due to human encroachment and disruption of populations through fishing and hunting.  In recent years, however, there have been signs of recovery in the wild population. 

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium recently announced that it had welcomed a five-week old orphaned Southern Sea Otter pup from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Photo Credits: Shedd Aquarium / Brenna Hernandez

The female pup arrived at Shedd on October 28^th from Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, where she spent the first four weeks of her life being stabilized. The pup has been doing well since her arrival, receiving continual care behind the scenes of Shedd’s Abbott Oceanarium, and she currently weighs in at just under 6 pounds and 22.6 inches long. She is the second pup from the threatened Southern Sea Otter population to reside at Shedd. Currently referred to as “Pup 681,” Shedd’s animal care and veterinarian teams are providing the continual, round-the-clock care she needs to thrive.

The small, vulnerable pup was found on September 30^th on Coastways Beach in California, and, at that time, was estimated to be only one week old and weighing around 2 pounds. A citizen on an evening walk heard the newborn otter’s cry and quickly notified The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC). TMMC staff contacted Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otters Program, and scientists determined the pup could not be safely retrieved that evening due to the remote location and impending darkness. The following morning, the pup was still in the same location and determined to have been orphaned, and it was estimated she had been separated from her mother for at least 16 hours. Scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Sea Otter Program responded immediately to recover the pup and transport her to Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Program has been studying and helping recover the threatened Southern Sea Otter since 1984. The program works with other aquariums, such as Shedd, and wildlife rescue facilities to respond to every sea otter that comes ashore in distress along the California coast. Over the past 25 years, nearly 700 sea otters have come through this program.

Stranded Sea Otter pups require extensive round-the-clock care and there are only a handful of facilities in the United States with the available space, staff and experience to provide the appropriate care. Shedd officials and animal care staff quickly accepted Monterey Bay Aquarium’s call to provide the stranded pup with a permanent home.

To ensure the pup receives everything that she needs, a rotating schedule of six to eight animal care experts provides care and attention 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During this intensive nurturing period, she will remain behind the scenes in the Regenstein Sea Otter Nursery as she develops certain behaviors, such as grooming, foraging, and feeding, as well as regulating her own body temperature by getting in and out of the water.

As she acclimates to her new surroundings, Pup 681 reaches new milestones every day, including taking formula from a bottle, eating solid foods such as shrimp and clams and even climbing upon white towels when she gets wet to help her groom and regulate her body temperature.

More info and amazing pics, below the fold!

Cotswold Wildlife Park, in the UK, is celebrating their first Brazilian Tapir birth since 2006! The calf has been named ‘Lolita’ and was born to first-time parents, ‘Gomez’ and ‘Cali’. 

Photo Credits: Georgia Dicks-age 11 (photo 2); Cotswold Wildlife Park (photos 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)

Visitors can see the new calf exploring the enclosure she shares with her parents, alongside the world’s largest rodent species, the Capybara. Both species are native to South America, but Tapirs can also be found in Central America and Malaysia.

Baby Tapirs are striking in appearance and visually differ greatly from the adults. For the first few weeks of their lives, the mother will make sure the vulnerable calf is hidden in thick foliage in the forest while she leaves to browse for food. The young Tapirs coats are covered with stripes and spots, which mimic the speckled sunlight on the forest floor. This enables the calf to brilliantly camouflage itself, in the wild, against predators. When Lolita was first born, visitors were unaware that a newborn Tapir was just feet away from them until keepers pointed the baby out.

Cotswold Wildlife Park has a successful history breeding Tapirs, as part of an Endangered Species Breeding Programme. Tapirs have a gestation period of approximately 13 months, and now that the baby has arrived, the young breeding pair, Gomez and Cali, are proving to be excellent parents. Lolita is growing up to be a confident, independent youngster, as well as a welcome addition to the Mammals section.

Curator of Cotswold Wildlife Park, Jamie Craig, said, “We have done incredibly well with this species in the past, but we are delighted to have a first calf from our new pair. The initial introduction between the adults did not go exactly to plan, and it was a relief to us all when they finally settled together.”

These unusual creatures have changed little over tens of millions of years. Fossils of Tapir ancestors have been found on every continent except Antarctica. Tapirs are Brazil’s largest mammal and are related to horses and rhinoceroses. Brazilian Tapirs live in wet forests and grasslands in South America where population numbers are declining due to habitat loss and hunting. They are classified as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Tapirs are a key species in shaping the biological diversity of tropical forests. A recent study of lowland Tapirs revealed 122 different seed species in their dung, making them masters at dispersing seeds and vital components in their ecosystem. 

More amazing pics, below the fold!

Durrell Wildlife Park is home to ‘Sid’, a critically endangered Bali Starling. The series of pictures, taken by bird keeper Catherine Francescon while she and her colleagues have been busy rearing him, demonstrate a timeline of his growth. You can almost, literally, see his feathers growing!

Photo Credits: Catherine Francescon/Durrell Wildlife Park

Bali Starlings are the only endemic vertebrate left in the Indonesian Island of Bali. Experts believe that there are only around 130 or so left in the wild, and that the species is in real peril.

The extraordinary beauty of the Bali Starling has been a major factor in driving it to the brink of extinction. Its pure white plumage and blue streak across the eye, which hatchling ‘Sid’ will one day display, have made it irresistible to collectors. Attempts to reintroduce captive-bred birds to bolster the population have, in the past, failed, as poachers working for the illegal pet trade immediately target the new arrivals.

Education programs in Bali are now trying to tackle the problem. Meanwhile, a captive assurance or ‘safety-net’ population of about 1,000 birds has been established. Birds bred in the Jersey wildlife park are part of this international programme, which aims to keep the species going until the severe threats it faces in the wild can be addressed.

It's encouraging when healthy hatchlings, like ‘Sid’, are thriving at Durrell Wildlife Park!

More great pics of Sid's growth, below the fold!

The Phoenix Zoo is home to an adorable new Bornean Orangutan. The new male was born September 2^nd, to mother, ‘Bess’, and father, ‘Michael’, and he is the second baby born to the pair, joining eight-year-old sister, ‘Kasih’. 

Photo Credits: Joseph Becker / Phoenix Zoo

Bornean Orangutan newborns spend the first four to five months clinging tightly to their mothers, so it will still be awhile before the baby begins moving about independently. At this young age, the baby spends much of his time nursing and sleeping. Orangutan young remain with their mothers until they are around seven years old, making theirs one of the longest childhoods in the animal kingdom.

The Phoenix Zoo is asking for the public’s help in naming the newborn. Their staff has selected five names, each with its own special meaning, and they invite you to vote on your favorite choice. The winning name will be announced at a baby shower event at the Zoo on November 8, 2014, followed by the announcement of the name on Facebook:  (http://www.facebook.com/PhoenixZoo) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/PhoenixZoo).

Voting ends November 6, 2014 at 8 p.m. MST.

The five potential names are:

Abadi – meaning “enduring”
Duke – honoring the baby’s grandmother Duchess
Jantung – meaning “heart”
Jiwa – meaning “soul”
Warisan – meaning “legacy”

Cast your vote by visiting http://phoenixzoo.org/2014/10/27/help-us-name-baby-orangutan/

Bornean Orangutans are listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List, and scientists estimate that wild orangutans could be extinct in 5-10 years, if their forest habitat continues to be destroyed at the current rate. Forests in Borneo and Sumatra are being destroyed for lumber and to produce palm oil, which is used in countless snack foods, household cleaning supplies and cosmetics. You can help reduce demand for unsustainably harvested palm oil by purchasing products that use certified sustainable palm oil and by supporting the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil at rspo.org. 

The Dallas Zoo has welcomed a leggy, 6-foot-tall baby Giraffe, born October 26^th to first-time mother, ‘Chrystal’. 

Photo Credits: Dallas Zoo

The male calf’s arrival wasn’t without excitement. Giraffe keepers and the veterinary team had closely monitored the pregnancy and labor. When 6-year-old Chrystal’s labor halted after about two hours, the team quickly moved her into a special, custom-built chute in the Giraffe barn. There, keepers were able to restrain her without using anesthesia, a risk they wanted to avoid for the health of both mom and calf.

With Chrystal safely ensconced in the chute, the veterinary team moved in quickly. Jan Raines, D.V.M., determined that the calf’s head and neck were positioned to the side of the front legs, instead of aligned with them. Raines was able to move the calf’s head and neck into the correct position, and Lynn Kramer, D.V.M., and the Giraffe keeper team delivered the newborn. They gently lowered it more than 6 feet to the ground. The calf was then moved into the barn’s maternity stall, equipped with extra layers of soft sand and overhead video cameras. Chrystal immediately joined the calf, licking him and nudging him. Soon he stood on wobbly new legs, and began to nurse shortly after.

“The chute and our team’s training definitely paid off, allowing us to provide excellent emergency care to Chrystal and the calf,” said Kramer, who is also the Dallas Zoo’s vice president of animal operations and welfare.

“A new giraffe is always a reason to celebrate,” Kramer added. “They’re remarkable animals, and are seriously threatened in the wild. Conservation is a key mission of our zoo, and this calf’s birth will allow us to offer a timely teaching message about the efforts being made on their behalf.”

“We were keeping a close eye on Chrystal,” Giraffe supervisor, Lisa Fitzgerald said. “It’s been three years since we had a calf, so our team is quite excited. Caring for a newborn this big is always a challenge, but it’s one that we love.”

Zoo staffers are now observing to ensure the calf is nursing and meeting appropriate developmental milestones. The energetic male calf weighs about 120 pounds and appears to be healthy. He could go out into the feeding habitat, with limited access, as soon as next week. For about three months, the baby and Chrystal will stay indoors during the evening, until the calf is big enough to be with the herd at nighttime.

The calf is a Reticulated Giraffe, a species with fewer than 4,700 left in the wild, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The father is the gregarious ‘Tebogo’, one of the Dallas Zoo’s most popular residents.

Tebogo is the zoo’s only breeding male under the Giraffe Species Survival Plan’s (SSP) program to ensure genetic diversity within endangered species. Tebogo also is the father of the last giraffe calf born at the Dallas Zoo, ‘Jamie’, born to ‘Katie’ in July 2011.

The Dallas Zoo’s 12-member giraffe herd is now one of the largest in the nation, with seven males and five females. Their ages range from the newborn to the oldest, ‘Auggie’, who is 12. 

A spunky Ring-Tailed Lemur born on September 22 is growing up fast at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo.  The female baby is named Madi, which is short for Madagascar, the home of Ring-Tailed Lemurs in the wild.

Photo Credit:  Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

Madi was born to first-time parents Kyna and Ombe.  Their breeding was recommended by the Species Survival Plan, a program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that seeks to maintain genetic diversity in zoo-dwelling populations of endangered animals.

Female Ring-tailed Lemurs are pregnant for four to five months.  Baby Lemurs are born with lots of hair and with eyes wide open. At first, babies cling to their mothers’ chests, but later ride on their backs. At about six months of age, the young are independent.

Lemurs live nowhere else in the world except Madagascar.  Unfortunately, less than 10% of Madagascar’s forest cover remains and due to this drastic loss of habitat, Ring-tailed Lemurs are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.