A rare Crowned Lemur was born at NaturZoo Rheine, Germany on May 7. This is the first time this species has reproduced successfully in this zoo.

The birth took place during daytime within the habitat called “Lemur-Forest”. The exhibit is also home to Ring-tailed Lemurs and Red-bellied Lemurs. All the co-inhabitants were separated to provide the birthing female with the least disturbances as possible. Later, she moved to the indoor-room, where she stayed for a few days to ensure full bonding with her baby and to allow time to get accustomed to her new maternal role. After a week, she was successfully reunited with the male Crowned Lemur and the other species in the exhibit.

Photo Credits: NaturZoo Rheine

Crowned Lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) are listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN. In Madagascar they are threatened by habitat destruction and hunting. European Zoos are cooperating within a coordinated breeding-programme (EEP) to maintain an “insurance population” of these lemurs, which in future might provide animals for re-stocking or release in their native range.

There are currently some 80 Crowned Lemurs in European zoos. The baby born at NaturZoo Rheine will contribute to this hopefully growing population.

The sex of the newborn is still unknown, and it might take several more weeks to determine. Male and female Crowned Lemurs are sexually dichromatic, with different pelage coloration especially on the head.

According to staff at NaturZoo Rheine, it doesn’t matter if there is a ‘prince’ or a ‘princess’ in their midst: either would be considered precious like crown-jewels.

ZooTampa at Lowry Park visitors may now be able to see a litter of new Red Wolf puppies, which are the most critically endangered Wolf species in the world!

The successful birth of four Red Wolf pups is an important addition to the populations of this rare Florida species, and they are the first Red Wolf births at the zoo since 1993.

Born in late April, in a natural den dug by their mother, Yona, the pups are living much as they would in the wild. A newly designed habitat allows guests to be part of the experience as the pups grow and emerge from their den. Zoo animal care staff and veterinarians have seen the pups snuggled up by Yona’s side, and the zoo team plans checkups for the pups in the coming weeks.

Photo Credits: ZooTampa at Lowry Park

Red Wolves (Canis rufus), the rarest of all Wolf species, are native to Florida and once roamed throughout the Southeast. Today, they are classified as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN, with only around 200 Red Wolves remaining in zoos and reintroduction areas.

Wolves were hunted by ranchers, to near extinction, for fear they would attack livestock. As part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP), ZooTampa is helping to ensure the Red Wolf population can continue despite serious threats to those in the wild.

“The birth of these Red Wolf pups represents a significant milestone for this species,” said Dr. Larry Killmar, the Zoo’s Chief Zoological Officer. “The success of this litter is encouraging and represents hope for the future of these incredible animals. Yona is caring for her pups in public view, which shows how comfortable and well cared for she feels.”

In addition to its Red Wolf program, ZooTampa leads in the caring, rescue and rehabilitation of several of Florida’s threatened and endangered animals, including Panthers, Manatees and Key Deer.

The Milwaukee County Zoo is proud to announce that a Reticulated Giraffe was born on May 15. 

The female calf arrived in the early evening to mom Marlee. This marks the second offspring for Marlee and the fourth for Bahatika, the father. 

Photo Credit: Milwaukee County Zoo

On May 16, veterinarians completed the calf’s first exam. The baby weighed 174 pounds and stood 6 feet, 1 inch tall.  Zookeepers and medical staff have been observing mother and baby closely.  Marlee appears very calm and attentive to the calf, who is nursing regularly.

The calf does not have a name yet.  Zookeepers who work with the newborn say they want to wait a while and learn more about her personality before choosing a name.

Six-year-old Marlee arrived at the Milwaukee County Zoo in 2013 from Zoo Miami.  Bahatika is 12 years old and arrived in 2006 from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

The zoo currently houses six Giraffe: adults Bahatika, Marlee, Ziggy, and Rahna; youngster Kazi; and the newborn.

Reticulated Giraffes are one of nine species and subspecies of Giraffe found in Africa. While widespread geographically, their numbers have decreased dramatically in recent decades, with only about 100,000 individuals remaining in the wild. Habitat loss, fragmentation, illegal hunting, and expanding human settlement contribute to the decline. Giraffes as a species are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with their status uplisted from Least Concern just over a year ago.

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Taronga Zoo, located in Sydney, Australia, is celebrating the breeding success of 13 Feathertail Glider babies, adding to 20 babies born only months ago. Born in March, the new joeys have just emerged from their mothers’ pouches.

Joeys usually emerge from their mother’s pouch when they are about 63 days old. At this point, the pouch, with up to four joeys inside, is so big that the mother’s feet cannot touch the ground.

Photo Credit: Sarah Lievore

Feathertail Gliders are named after their long tail that is fringed with stiff hairs that resemble a feather. These tiny marsupials are only two to three inches long but can glide up to 90 feet from tree to tree. A flap of skin stretching from front to back legs acts like a parachute, while the tail serves as a rudder for steering. As adults they weigh .4 ounces – about the same as two US quarters.

Taronga Zoo Sydney is believed to be the first Zoo to ever successfully breed Feathertail Gliders, and in the last decade has seen the birth of up to 200 individuals.

With the help of fine skin ridges and tiny hairs on their feet, Feathertail Gliders are able to climb smooth surfaces, such as vertical panes of glass. Sweat helps the feet act like suction cups to aid in climbing.

Feathertail Gliders are probably common in much of eastern Australia, but few people see them due to their tiny size and nocturnal habits.

Not a lot is known about these tiny animals in the wild. While there appear to be no immediate major threats to this species in the short term, Feathertails may be locally threatened by habitat loss as well as predation by feral cats and foxes.  

See more photos of the Gliders below.

The Oregon Zoo announced the arrival of a new kid. Mountain Goat, Sassy, gave birth May 20.

Mom and kid can be seen amid the rocky crags of the Zoo’s “Cascade Crest” habitat, just past the zoo’s main entrance.

Photo Credits: Kathy Street / Oregon Zoo

While mothers of some species keep their newborns hidden away for several weeks, Mountain Goat kids are typically on their feet within minutes after birth, quickly learning to navigate their sparse and rocky alpine environment.

Sassy’s kid was no exception, according to Amy Cutting, who oversees the zoo’s Great Northwest area. “She gave birth between 8 and 8:20 Saturday evening, and her kid was already on its feet by 8:30,” Cutting said. “We saw it do a playful hop less than an hour after it was born. Mountain Goat kids are extremely precocious.”

Zookeepers had been aware that Sassy was pregnant and saw signs of labor early in the afternoon before the birth, so they had been keeping a close watch into the night.

Now that the new kid has arrived, keepers will continue to observe the pair to ensure all is going well. However, it appears Sassy doesn’t seem to need any help, according to Cutting.

“Although Sassy’s a first-time mom, she grew up in a herd and has seen other births before,” Cutting said. “So far, she’s been very attentive and is nursing her kid regularly. The two have been heard vocalizing to each other and they seem to be bonding well.”

Caregivers won’t know whether the new kid is male or female until its first veterinary check, probably in about a week.

Cutting also shared that the Zoo’s other adult Mountain Goats (male Honovi, who is the father, and female Montane) seem unconcerned about the new arrival, and have been giving Sassy and her kid some space to get acquainted.

Montane is also believed to be pregnant, and could give birth within a month.

“We’re excited that Sassy went first, so Montane has a chance to observe her and hopefully learn a few things,” Cutting said.

Montane has not experienced birth before. She arrived at the Oregon Zoo in 2009 and was an orphan, rescued by Idaho wildlife officials.

In the Pacific Northwest, wild Mountain Goats live on various peaks in the Washington Cascades and across Oregon ranges, like the Elkhorns and Wallowas. They also can be seen on the Olympic Peninsula, where they are non-native — introduced there by a hunting group in the 1920s — and have become a threat to local wildlife.

In March, the National Park Service announced plans to relocate 90 percent of the Olympic Mountain Goat population to its native range. The Oregon Zoo has contributed $5,000 toward transport enclosures to aid in the effort.

Ten years ago, Cotswold Wildlife Park’s interactive Lemur exhibit, “Madagascar”, officially opened to the public. On the exhibit’s anniversary, the Park’s Primate team is thrilled to announce the birth of a Collared Lemur, bringing the total numbers of Lemur breeding successes to 55 since the Madagascar exhibit officially opened a decade ago. Visitors can see the tiny newborn in the exhibit it shares with a troop of 18 other free-roaming Lemurs and nine Madagascan Birds.

Females are only sexually receptive for just two or three days a year, so the window of opportunity for males to father offspring is small. After a gestation period of approximately 165 days, Lemur mum, Anais, gave birth. The baby’s father is, Varika.

Natalie Horner, Deputy Section Head of Primates, said, “On the 5th of May, we discovered that our female Collared Lemur, Anais, had given birth that very morning. Anais is an experienced mum, so did brilliantly during the delivery and was already cleaning the baby up ready for its first feed. Lemur babies only weigh around 80g when first born but are able to cling to their mum’s fur and clamber around to find the best feeding position. At the moment, the baby is spending most of the time feeding and sleeping. Apart from upping her daily diet, we don’t interfere and leave everything in mum’s capable hands – just observe from afar to make sure both mother and baby are bonding and doing well”.

Photo Credits: Cotswold Wildlife Park

To highlight the plight of the world’s most endangered Lemurs, Cotswold Wildlife Park will dedicate 26th May – 3rd June 2018 to ‘Lemur Week’. Its aim is to raise awareness and funds for the Park’s conservation projects helping to save the world’s most threatened Lemurs from extinction.

As part of ‘Lemur Week’, visitors will have the chance to name the new Collared Lemur baby, as well as take part in a variety of Lemur-themed activities. Read more about the Park’s conservation projects here: https://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/conservation/.

The Collared Lemur (Eulemur collaris) is found in rainforests in a small range in the southeastern tip of Madagascar. Like most species of Lemur, it is arboreal, and like other brown Lemurs, this species is cathemeral (active during the day and the night). They are known to feed on a variety of plant species.

The Collared Lemur is currently listed as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and it is threatened primarily by habitat loss.

More great pics, below the fold!

The Los Angeles Zoo excitedly shared news of the birth of four Tadjik Markhor calves. Two calves arrived the first week of May, and two more followed the next week!

The new babies can be seen in the zoo habitat with the rest of their herd.

Photo Credits: LA Zoo

The Tadjik Markhor (Capra falconeri heptneri), also known as the Bukharan Markhor, is an endangered goat-antelope. It is native to Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and possibly also Afghanistan. The animal is one of about five subspecies of Markhor.

The Markhor (Capra falconeri), also known as the “Screw Horn Goat”, is a large species of wild goat that is found in northeastern Afghanistan, northern and central Pakistan, Northern India, southern Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan and in the Himalayas.

The species, as a whole, was classified as “Endangered” by the IUCN, until 2015 when it was downgraded to “Near Threatened”. Numbers have increased by an estimated 20% for the last decade. The Markhor is notably known as the national animal of Pakistan.

A rare Greater One-horned Rhino calf was born May 3 at Chester Zoo.

After 16 months gestation and a 20-minute labor, the male calf arrived to mum, Asha (11-years old), and dad, Beni (13).

The Zoo captured the birth on CCTV and footage shows the soon-to-be-named calf getting to his feet to take his first wobbly steps before feeding for the first time.

Zoo conservationists have hailed the birth of the “precious, bolshie newcomer” as a big boost to the endangered species breeding programme, with the Greater One-horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) listed as “Vulnerable” to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The animals are threatened in the wild by the illegal poaching of their horns and habitat loss.

Photo Credits: Chester Zoo

Tim Rowlands, Curator of Mammals, said, “Asha is a superb mum and delivered her little bundle of joy in very relaxed fashion – almost lying down completely to give birth.”

“Greater One-horned Rhinos are a vulnerable species and every new calf is ever so special. This is a momentous new arrival.”  

Rowlands continued, “Rhinos around the world are under increasing pressure due largely to the senseless poaching of their horn. We need more people to be aware of their plight and join us in the fight to end the slaughter and ensure these magnificent animals are around for the future. Asha’s precious new arrival, which is already developing into quite a bolshie little character, will hopefully go some way to keeping rhinos and the surrounding issues in the spotlight.”

Chester Zoo is part of a breeding programme coordinated by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) that is focused on sustaining the Greater One-horned Rhino population.

Mike Jordan, Collections Director, added, “At one stage, the Greater One-horned Rhino was hunted almost to extinction and there were less than 200 in the wild. Thankfully, steps to protect them were taken just in time, and today there are around 3,500 in India and Nepal.”

“That number though is still desperately small, and they continue to face threats to their long-term survival. As with the rhinos in Africa, they are targeted for their horns by poachers and much of the land where they once lived has been taken over by humans. It’s therefore vitally important that we act for wildlife to ensure the population doesn’t dip to critically low levels again.”

More great pics, below the fold!

Four mischievous Meerkat pups have been born at Chester Zoo.

The quadruplets have been tucked away in their den since being born on March 26, but have started exploring their habitat for the very first time.

Photo Credit: Chester Zoo

The new arrivals, which have not yet been sexed or named by keepers, were born to first-time parents Huskie and Beagle.

Lead keeper Kirsten Wicks said, “Parents Huskie and Beagle have been minor celebrities since they appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Life of The Zoo last month. Visitors have been really keen to know how they’re getting on, so it’s amazing to be able to share the great news about their new arrivals.”

“This is their first litter and the pups are doing incredibly well, they have already began learning how to forage for food and are spending lots of time grooming and playing together. It’s the start of a growing, happy new mob!” Wicks said.

Meerkats are native to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Angola and inhabit open country and sparse woody scrublands. Most live in underground burrows in groups of about 30 individuals called a gang or a mob. They mark their territories with scent glands, which are located below their tails. 

Expert diggers, Meerkats can close their ears to keep dirt out while excavating. The dark patches around their eyes help reduce glare on the sunny African savannah. They feed primarily on insects and other invertebrates. At this time, Meerkats are not threatened and are listed as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

See more photos of the quadruplets below.

Northern Spotted Owls are one of the rarest birds in Canada, with only about 30 individuals remaining in the country. That’s why the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program is thrilled to announce the successful hatching and release of a Northern Spotted Owl chick to foster parents at the facility.

Researchers collected and incubated an egg which had been laid on March 11. Nicknamed “Egg B,” the egg was monitored closely over the 32-day incubation period. The chick took 85 hours to break out of its egg, emerging on April 15.

Photo Credit: Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program

Staff at the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program hand-reared the chick, now referred to as “Chick B,” for the first 10 days of its life to increase the chick’s chances of survival.  The chick remained safe and warm, with constant care from staff 24 hours a day. The chick’s specific nutrition and temperature requirements were met as it grew and developed over the 10-day period. Owlets lack the ability to regulate their own body temperature.

After 10 days of round-the-clock care, Chick B was placed in the nest of an experienced Northern Spotted Owl pair named Scud and Shania who reside at the facility. You can see Chick B and its foster parents in the nest on the live stream below or by clicking here. The webcam is hosted by the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program in partnership with the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program.

The mission of the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program is to breed Northern Spotted Owls in a captive breeding program for eventual release into over 300,000 hectares of protected old growth forests in hopes that the species will re-establish itself and thrive.  Located in British Columbia, the Breeding Program began in 2007 with a founding population of six adult Spotted Owls. There are currently 20 Spotted Owls residing at the breeding facility, including four breeding pairs. The Program's target is to house 10 breeding pairs by 2020, and release 10-20 offspring each year for the next 15-20 years. 

See more photos of Chick B below.