On February 13th, Safari West welcomed a brand new baby giraffe born there on the Sonoma Serengeti. This 6-foot newborn tips the scales at 130 pounds and is ready to meet his fans! There’s just one problem. He needs a name!

What should they name the new baby giraffe?

Valentino

Dobby

Patches

Vino

Ollie

Polls close March 1, 2021, at midnight PST.

Show your support for this vulnerable species and spread some love for him today by helping them name that baby! https://www.safariwest.com/2021/02/help-us-name-that-baby/

Always one of the most famous and recognizable of Africa’s mammals, the lovely giraffe has recently become a conservation issue as well. Although most people still don’t know it, giraffes have sadly found themselves on the Endangered Species List! More than ever before, we need to focus attention on the study and conservation of this unique species. The giraffes at Safari West have served as ambassadors for their species for decades and continue to inspire and educate tens of thousands of human visitors every year. Safari West looks forward to this newest arrival continuing the tradition with the next generation of conservationists.

Photographs and video by Will Bucquoy.

Video and photos courtesy of Erie Zoo

Babies on board! These little ones may not be as cute and cuddly as some of the other babies at the Erie Zoo, but they sure are cool!

Emperor scorpions are native to the rainforests of West Africa. Mother scorpions can give birth to anywhere from 9 - 32 offspring who are born helpless and white in color. The babies live on the mother's back for about 2-3 weeks until they are able to fend for themselves!

Mom gives off a blue-green glow  when under a UV light. The glow comes from a substance found in a very thin but super tough coating in a part of the scorpion's exoskeleton called the cuticle. 

The babies will remain at the Erie Zoo. They are part of an animal ambassador program. Emperor scorpions can give birth about once a year as they have a 9-12 month gestation period. Right now the babies are completely reliant on mom for food and stay on her back. In 2-3 weeks they will leave her back and begin fending for themselves.

Naples Zoo is celebrating the birth of a critically endangered Eastern bongo calf - their first baby of 2021. Five-year-old bongo, Amara, gave birth to a female calf at approximately 6:00 pm Sunday, January 17, 2021. The calf weighs 46 pounds and stands approximately 2 feet tall.

The calf received a neonatal exam from the Zoo's licensed veterinary technician and was found to be healthy and thriving. The full examination included taking the calf’s temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, an eye exam, determining weight, listening to the heart and lung sounds, checking the suckle response and an examination for a cleft palate. The examination also revealed that the new calf is a female.

This is Amara’s third calf - but it is the first female. Amara’s first male calf, Bakari, was born in January 2019 and her second calf, Makumi, was born in December of 2019. The Hoofstock keepers named this little one Amali, which means "hope" in Swahili.

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Animal care staff at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI perform routine weigh-ins to confirm their little ones continue to thrive. This video was taken at eight days old. Today, at just over three weeks, these pups are already nearly 4x their initial weight!

In July of last year Erie Zoo welcomed two red panda cubs, one male and one female. These cubs were first time offspring to Erie Zoo red panda pairing “Pumori” and “Delilah.”

On a routine check a few days after the birth, the animal care and veterinary staff noted the cubs were failing to gain weight. After talking to the red panda SSP (Species Survival Plan) coordinator from the Knoxville Zoo and discussing possible options, the decision was made to remove the cubs and focus on hand-raising them to ensure their progress.

The Zoo Knoxville Silvered-leaf langur born November 30 to parents Lucy and Walter has been introduced to the troop!

The new female is hitting her milestones and all of the langurs have a hand in caring for the new addition.

She is only the second langur to be born in Knoxville since the zoo began working with the species in 2017.

You can see the family in the day room at Langur Landing in Asian Trek when you visit Zoo Knoxville.

A bear cuscus has been born at Zoo Wrocław!

Why is this birth so special? Only 4 zoos in the world house this species and only in Wrocław has it been bred successfully. In nature, bear cuscuses live only on the island of Celebes in Indonesia, and soon they may become completely extinct. The bear cuscus is one of the rarest, least known, and most endangered species of animals on Earth!

This animal has a massive body reaching up to 10 kg and 60 cm in length. Its bear-like fur is soft and dark. It has a large head with a short snout, piercing eyes and a pink nose, paws with sharp claws, and a long prehensile tail. It resembles a miniature bear but it is a marsupial. It lives in the rainforests on the island of Celebes. The bear cuscus is an arboreal animal but moves slowly, carefully reaching branches. It feeds mainly on leaves but also likes flowers, buds, and unripe fruits. These animals are not very social, they live in pairs or small groups and communicate via scents and vocalizations. They reproduce as they live-slowly. Although little is known about this process, it has been established that the female usually gives birth to one underdeveloped young per year that lives in her pouch for 6-7 months. The bear cuscus prefers to live in areas untouched by humans. Its inability to adapt to changing conditions makes all the obvious problems such as climate change, deforestation, or poaching even more threatening. It also hampers the research and conservation efforts. Despite such complications, the employees of the Wrocław zoo have successfully bred this species for the fourth time. This is a huge success on a global scale and a confirmation that the bear cuscus can be saved from extinction thanks to zoo breeding programs.

Sydney, Wednesday 17 February 2021: Small, covered in barnacles and fighting for her life – that was the way a young and critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle was found by SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium staff late last year after receiving a tip-off from the public.

The 4kg turtle, named Avalon after the beach she was seen floating off in NSW, was barely responsive in mid-November when the team picked her up and rushed her back to the aquarium’s Animal Rescue Centre for emergency treatment. Fortunately, she is now on the road to recovery and there are hopes that one day she will swim back into the wild.

“When we first saw her, we didn’t think she would pull through,” said Kellie Carmody, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium’s on-site Vet Nurse. “She was in quite a critical state and it was really important that we moved quickly so that we would be able to turn her health around in a positive direction.”

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo yesterday announced the arrival of a two-month-old Malayan tiger cub from the Tulsa Zoo. The female Malayan tiger cub, named Indrah, has joined Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s two Amur tiger cubs that were born in late December to form a social group of two endangered subspecies of tigers.

“Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Tulsa Zoo both recently celebrated the incredible births of endangered tiger cubs,” said Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Executive Director Dr. Chris Kuhar. “Socialization of tigers at an early age is incredibly important and raising these cubs as part of a unique social group will allow them to develop skills and behaviors together.”

Photos courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

The move was spearheaded through the partnerships of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Tulsa Zoo and coordinated through the Tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program. The Tiger SSP administrates the highest standards of care and welfare for tigers by working collaboratively across the over 230 accredited zoos of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Additionally, SSP programs represent their species regionally and internationally through husbandry, conservation efforts and scientific opportunities.