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On Friday, December 12, Shedd Aquarium, along with ABC’s Good Morning America, officially announced the name of its female rescued Southern Sea Otter pup, formerly known as ‘Pup 681’. Over 10,000 votes were tallied from the “Name the Sea Otter Pup” voting contest, which took place between Dec. 2 and Dec. 11, and the winning name is…Luna!

Photo Credits: Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez ; Video Credits: Shedd Aquarium/Sam Cejtin

The announcement was made on GMA and also during a special members-only event at Shedd Aquarium. During the event, Shedd’s animal care team announced the winning name and introduced the Sea Otter pup to the exhibit for the first time. The general public will have the opportunity to meet ‘Luna’ in person in Spring 2015 at the Regenstein Sea Otter habitat in the Abbott Oceanarium at Shedd.

Currently weighing in at 11 pounds, the pup is growing quickly and successfully reaching new milestones everyday including diving, foraging for food, grooming on her own and most recently the animal care team introduced four types of seafood to her diet.

The marine mammal team at Shedd provided name choices, which reflected geographic native habitats of Southern Sea Otters, a threatened species. The name Luna is derived from Half Moon Bay, the area close to where the pup was rescued. Shedd members had an exclusive opportunity to vote on their favorite name, making Luna the official Shedd member’s choice. 

Three endangered African Wild Dog pups raised by a Golden Retriever at the Oklahoma City Zoo now have names refelecting their African heritage and their surrogate mother.

Photo Credit:  Oklahoma City Zoo

Born on November 7, the pups were removed from their mother when keepers observed that she failed to provide maternal care.  When the pups were a few days old, they were placed with  Lilly, a Golden Retriever who was a proven mother and had just delivered a single pup herself.  You can read the pups’ story in this ZooBorns post.

The pups, two females and one male, now weigh six pounds and have been weaned from Lilly.  

The zoo staff chose the pups’ names to reflect their African heritage and to honor their surrogate mom. Ayana’s name translates as ‘beautiful flower,’ while Zahra’s name means ‘flowering.’  Male pup Maji’s name translates as ‘water lily.’  Lilly’s pup has been named Uno.

All four of the pups have benefitted from their time together, as Lilly has taught them “dog etiquette” and many other important social skills.  Lilly, a former rescue dog, will soon leave the zoo with Uno.  

Ayana, Zahra, and Maji are gradually being introduced to the other members of the zoo’s African Wild Dog pack. For now, they can see and smell each other, but it may be several months before they fully integrate with the pack.

African Wild Dogs have vanished from much of their range in sub-Saharan Africa.  They live highly social lives in packs of 2-20 adults and their pups.  They specialize in hunting Gazelles, which they chase to exhaustion.  Food is regurgitated not only for pups, but for other adults as well, and this forms the basis of important social connections within the packs.  African Wild Dogs are listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

Denmark’s Odense Zoo welcomed five Miniature Pig babies on November 20.  The Piglets are thriving under the care of their mother, and are getting accustomed to their home in the zoo’s farmhouse.

Photo Credit:  Odense Zoo

Miniature Pigs are popular as pets or on small farms, and though they can weigh up to 200 pounds as adults, are far smaller than a typical domestic pig.  Pigs are intelligent animals and can be house-trained and to perform behaviors. 

Like all Pigs, Miniature Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.  They use their stubby snouts to dig for roots and tubers, and will also feed on a variety of plant material and small animals.

See more photos of the Piglets below.

The first Capybara in over 10 years has been born at Houston Zoo in Texas! The little male, named Mr. Pibb, was born to mom, Sunkist, and dad, Pop (not pictured). He is a very curious youngster and wasn't at all camera-shy. On December 10, he went outside for the first time with his mom. 

The baby was eating solid foods after only a few days, and even started 'borrowing' his mom's food to eat. He wanted to try everything in his mom's food bowl, and after eating it, he decided to get inside!

Photo credit: Houston Zoo

See more after the fold!

On December 6, 2014, a Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine was born, on exhibit, at the Virginia Zoo. 

Photo Credits: Virginia Zoo / (Image 2: Meg Puckett)

After several days of close observations, animal care and veterinary staff were not comfortable with the level of care that first-time mom,‘Cayenne’, was giving the youngster, so after much internal discussion as well as consultation from experts at the National Zoo, it was decided to remove the baby from the parents and hand-rear it.  The baby is yet to be named and its sex is not physically able to be determined at this point.

The birth of this unique animal illustrates the Virginia Zoo’s breeding and conservation success. This birth is significant because it provides opportunities for Zoo staff and visitors to learn more about these unique animals and their role in our world. It also helps to maintain and support a healthy and self-sustaining population that is genetically diverse and demographically stable.

Prehensile-Tailed Porcupines are native to Central and South America. They are closely related to other Neotropical tree porcupines. Aside from their unspined prehensile tails, their other notable features are: front and hind feet modified for grasping, enabling them to be adept climbers.

Two male Malayan Tigers were born, November 16^th, at Alexandria Zoo, in Louisiana. The two healthy baby boys were born to 15-year-old father, ‘Jammu’, and 6-year-old mother, ‘Yatti’. 

Photo Credits: Alexandria Zoo

After an approximately 104-day gestation period, the cubs were born blind, and weighed about 2 to 3 pounds. Although mother, Yatti, is doing well, she was not providing adequate care for the cubs, after their birth. Zoo keepers made the decision to hand raise the cubs, in order to insure they were provided with the proper feeding and care they needed to survive. The cubs will begin to wean at about six weeks. Once they are a bit older and their personalities begin to develop, the Zoo will also name the cubs.

Alexandria Zoo participates in the Tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP). This program works to maintain sustainable, genetically diverse tiger populations and supports research on tiger biology and care. The program also raises awareness about the plight of tigers and funding for their conservation.

With less than 500 Malayan Tigers remaining in the wild, each Malayan Tiger birth is a significant one. Approximately 60 Malayan Tigers are housed at 27 North American institutions. The SSP's target population size is 150. Alexandria Zoo worked cooperatively with the SSP coordinator to make the decision to hand-raise the cubs.

The Tiger SSP coordinators will determine how long the cubs will stay at Alexandria Zoo and what institution(s) they will be moved to. The cubs could potentially stay at Alexandria Zoo for up to two years.

Malayan Tigers are native to the tropical forests of peninsular Malaysia. Habitat loss and poaching of both the tigers and their prey are the greatest threats the species faces.

All tigers are extremely endangered and three subspecies have already become extinct.

More video and photos below the fold!

Shedd Aquarium’s rescued Southern Sea Otter pup, which came to the aquarium as part of a collaborative partnership with Monterey Bay Aquarium, is currently known as ‘Pup 681’. She has been swimming past significant milestones over the last few weeks and is growing quickly. Already double in size and weighing in at a little over 10 pounds, Pup 681 is now ready for a name! 

Photo Credits: Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez ; Video Credits: Shedd Aquarium/Sam Cejtin

Shedd is partnering up with ABC’s morning television show, “Good Morning America”, to name the female Sea Otter pup, through the “Name the Sea Otter Pup” voting contest.

“The entire organization celebrates Pup 681 as a meaningful way to educate our guests and have a better understanding of sea otters, which is critical to conserve and protect this species,” said Tim Binder, Vice President of Animal Collections for Shedd. “Over the past few weeks, she has won the hearts of many in Chicago and across the nation.  We’re excited to team up with a national organization, to connect millions of people with this species inspiring conservation for wildlife and the environment through the engaging process of selecting a name for our Sea Otter with everyone.”

“Good Morning America” invites viewers to get involved with the contest by casting their votes online, via a poll, found on the right side of their page, at GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo. Participants can submit votes as often as they like until Thursday, Dec.11 at 3 p.m. EST. The final name will be revealed on Friday, Dec. 12.

The public will choose from five names, selected by Shedd’s marine mammal staff. Shedd has a history of naming animals that are rescued affiliated with the locations of which they were found. Names include: 

• Cali  - To honor the California otter
• Ellie  - Año Nuevo State Park is well known for its elephant seals, also Elkhorn Slough - an area that is right up the coast from Monterey that is home to many Sea Otters
• Luna  - Derived from nearby Half Moon Bay
• Poppy  - California State Flower
• Aña or Anya  - Derived from Año Nuevo State Park

On September 30^th, the Taipei Zoo welcomed the birth of a female Pangolin, named “Gung-wu”.

Photo Credits: Taipei Zoo

The tiny Pangolin, born with eyes half open, began crawling, within an hour of birth, in search of nourishment from her mother. Although the Pangolin mother was a willing participant, she was unable to provide an adequate supply of milk for the new baby.

Zoo staff were patient with the new mother, but when the baby began to lose weight, the decision was made to intervene on behalf of the newborn.  Now, zoo keepers provide 24 hour care and feeding for “Gung-wu”, and her weight and health have stabilized. 

Pangolins are mammals of the order Pholidota.  They are nocturnal insectivores and are native to Africa and Asia. As a result of increasing threats to Pangolins, mainly in the form of illegal, international trade in Pangolin skin, scales and meat, these species have received increasing conservation attention in recent years. In 2014, the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) re-categorized all eight species of Pangolin on its Red List of Threatened Species, and each species is now classified as “Critically Endangered”.

More great photos below the fold!

Some may like it hot, but not Australia’s Fruit Bats.  A spring heat wave with temperatures over 100 degrees F has killed many adult Fruit Bats, leaving their babies orphaned and in need of care.  That’s why the Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Center has been inundated with rescued baby Bats in recent months.

Photo Credit:  Adam Cox
Entire colonies of Gray-headed Flying Foxes and Black Flying Foxes have been wiped out due to the extremely high temperatures.  Often, when the mothers die, their babies are still attached to their teats.  Without immediate rescue, these babies will face the same fate as their mothers.

When the baby Bats enter rehabilitation, rescuers’ first jobs are to help the babies feel secure and to feed them.  The rubber nipples tucked into the babies’ mouths help them feel as if they are still attached to their mothers’ teats.  When the babies are wrapped in tiny blankets (causing the babies to resemble little Bat burritos), they feel safe in their temporary home.  A little affection from the rescuers helps too.

After a few months, rescuers will release the baby Bats back into the wild. 

Flying Foxes are Bats that feed primarily on fruit, pollen, and nectar.  The world's 60 species of Flying Foxes are found in tropical regions.  Unlike insect-eating bats, which are usually smaller in size, Flying Foxes do not use echolocation to find food.  Instead, they have well-developed senses of smell and eyesight.  Many species of Flying Fox are threatened with extinction due to illegal hunting and persecution.

See more photos of the baby Bats below.