An orphaned grizzly bear cub from Tok, Alaska has found sanctuary at the Detroit Zoo. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) received reports of a grizzly bear cub wandering alone near a neighborhood in June. Much too young to be separated from his mother, the ADF&G moved him to the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage for immediate care and a health assessment before he was transferred to the Detroit Zoo.

Named Jebbie by the local residents who saw him and notified ADF&G, he arrived at the Detroit Zoo weighing 76 pounds, and today weighs 180 pounds. After a quarantine period and an exam by Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) veterinarians, Jebbie moved to the Arctic Ring of Life polar bear building, where he and the Detroit Zoo’s hand-reared polar bear cub, Laerke, have been gradually getting to know each other. Now, the two young bears wrestle, play with toys and spend their days together.

Polar bear cubs Astra and Laerke were born at the Detroit Zoo in November 2020 to 8-year-old mother Suka and 16-year-old father, Nuka. Two days after their births, Laerke appeared weak and stopped moving. She was brought to the Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex for around-the-clock emergency care.

“There are no other polar bear cubs who we can bring here to live with her, so we reached out to state agencies that frequently must find homes for orphaned grizzly bear cubs. We’re thrilled that we are able to give Jebbie sanctuary and provide a much-needed companion for Laerke,” said Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the DZS. “This social development is critically important for both Laerke and Jebbie.”

“Suka is a great mother and very protective of Laerke’s sister, Astra, but it’s clear that she no longer recognizes Laerke as her cub,” Carter added. “Returning Laerke to her mother and sister is not an option for us.”

Starting Thursday, September 23, visitors can see Laerke and Jebbie grow up together in the Arctic Ring of Life.

The Arctic Ring of Life is one of the largest zoo polar bear habitats in the world. It includes a grassy tundra, a freshwater pool, a “pack ice” area and a 190,000-gallon saltwater pool. This state-of-the-art facility encompasses more than 4 acres of outdoor and indoor habitats and was recognized by The Intrepid Traveler’s guide to “America’s Best Zoos” as one of the finest zoo habitats in America.

Taronga Zoo Sydney is delighted to share a very cute cub-date and a first close-up glimpse of the faces of five adorable lion cubs.

The five cubs – three females and two males - were born to experienced mum Maya and first-time dad Ato last month, and are now six weeks of age.

The cubs are continuing to grow and develop and this week took their first steps into their holding yard, with their paws touching grass for the very first time.

The cubs were also given their weekly weigh in and are now between 5.5kg and 6.5kg, which keepers say is testament to mum Maya who is taking expert care of the large litter.

While the cubs are still small, the public are able to catch a keepers-eye glimpse of the growing pride via Taronga TV’s Cub Cam.

For small tax-deductible donation of just $7, the public can access a 24/7 live stream of the five precious cubs – all whilst supporting Taronga’s vital conservation work around the globe!  www.taronga.org.au/cubcam

As the cubs approach eight weeks of age, the keepers are also calling on the public to help name one! Head to the website to cast a vote and for a chance to win one of 20 family passes.

Taronga’s lions are important ambassadors for their species, helping to raise vital funds and awareness to help their wild counterparts

Chester Zoo is celebrating the birth of a threatened spider monkey.

The rare baby primate, a Colombian black-headed spider monkey, has been spotted being cradled in the arms of experienced mum, Kiara (11).

Colombian black-headed spider monkeys are considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and are at risk of extinction, with more than a quarter of its population estimated to have been lost in just the last half a century.

The South American primates are found mainly in Colombia and Panama where they are being increasingly threatened by hunting, illegal trafficking and the destruction of their tropical rainforest habitat.

Royal Burgers' Zoo achieves groundbreaking international breeding success with fiddler crabs at the Mangrove

Arnhem, The Netherlands, 16 September 2021 - As a crowning achievement, Royal Burgers' Zoo released the first five homebred fiddler crabs into the public arena at the Mangrove on Thursday 16 September 2021. Breeding fiddler crabs is a very meticulous, delicate process that is globally still pioneering. The tiny larvae eat tiny animal plankton and require precise water quality, temperature and water movement. 

Royal Burgers' Zoo achieves groundbreaking international breeding success with fiddler crabs at the Mangrove

Arnhem, The Netherlands, 16 September 2021 - As a crowning achievement, Royal Burgers' Zoo released the first five homebred fiddler crabs into the public arena at the Mangrove on Thursday 16 September 2021. Breeding fiddler crabs is a very meticulous, delicate process that is globally still pioneering. The tiny larvae eat tiny animal plankton and require precise water quality, temperature and water movement. 

Taronga Zoo Sydney is thrilled to announce the recent birth of Greater Bilby twins, the second successful birth of bilby joeys in the last 12 months – a significant contribution to Taronga's conservation breeding program.

The two joeys, which are both males are estimated to have been born in early May in an off-display bilby breeding facility at Taronga’s Backyard to Bush precinct. The names ‘Mallee’ and ‘Cliff’ were chosen by Keepers to pay tribute to the Mallee Cliff National Park, an area in which the Greater Bilby was reintroduced in recent years.

Today is World Gorilla Day (it’s September 24) and this is the perfect time for an update on the youngest member of Woodland Park Zoo’s western lowland gorilla family—Zuna!

Little Zuna is nearly 8 months old right now and is doing great! She weighs around 11 ½ pounds now, which is double her birth weight. Zuna continues to become more and more active and while mama Nadiri tends to keep her close, she is on the move whenever she gets the chance. Sometimes, when Nadiri is trying to get some rest (because being a gorilla mama is a 24/7 job!) Zuna uses that time to venture out a bit—climbing or toddling around. She still takes bottles from the gorilla keepers a few times a day but is trying lots of solid foods now too, including cucumber, yams, carrots and a special fortified biscuit. She also loves to forage for any fruit rinds and extra tidbits of food that Nadiri drops as she eats her meals.

Over 40 tiny bundles of joy were released into the ocean following rehab at two southwest Florida aquariums

Over the past week, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium took over 40 sea turtle hatchlings offshore to be released following rehabilitation. Mote’s Hatchling Hospital successfully rehabilitated 33 hatchlings, many of which were recovered from pools after they became disoriented. Mote’s team made an additional offshore trip this week to release 10 additional hatchlings that recovered at Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s marine life hospital. These hatchlings suffered from a variety of impairments including disorientation and malnutrition.   

Since sea turtle season began officially in May—although the first nest arrived in Sarasota in April—nearly 800 sea turtle hatchlings have been successfully rehabilitated at Mote’s Hatchling Hospital and over 150 at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. These hatchlings might be recovered during permitted nest excavations or perhaps found after a nest predation event. However, by far the most common reason that a hatchling finds itself in need of TLC is due to disorientation, which occurs when hatchlings emerge from the nest and travel towards artificial lighting instead of the water. Sea turtle hatchlings have a limited energy supply—they emerge from their egg with a yolk sac that nourishes them for a short period of time—and wasting energy going the wrong direction can be deadly. 

Springfield, MO –Dickerson Park Zoo is happy to announce Emma the giraffe had her baby sometime in the early morning hours on September 21, 2021.

Emma’s pregnancy was unexpected and considered high risk. The zoo’s animal care staff had been closely monitoring her as well as preparing for a potential C-section if necessary.

The calf was discovered early this morning when zoo staff arrived to check on Emma. The baby is up and walking, and both mother and baby appear to be doing well. At this time, the animal care team will continue to observe from a distance and allow mother and baby time to bond.

“We are grateful for all the well wishes when it was announced Emma was expecting and the pregnancy was high risk,” said zoo spokeswoman Joey Powell. “We were hopeful she would be able to go into labor and deliver on her own. Seeing both mom and baby up and moving this morning made a rainy day brighter.”

Dickerson Park Zoo is doing a gender and name reveal at 11 a.m. CST Friday, September 24 on Facebook live: https://www.facebook.com/DPZoo/

Photos by Zookeeper Christina Rizzo

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 23, 2021) – After more than four decades of successfully breeding, rearing and introducing California condors and other vultures back into their native habitats, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is ushering in a new era of vulture conservation. Wildlife care specialists at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have begun hatching and raising the Western Egyptian vulture, a species native to southern Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, very few of these rare birds live in the United States—and this novel breeding program represents new hope for increasing the conservation population of the species in North America.

                  “This is an endangered species with a rapidly declining population trend, as is the plight of many vulture species,” said Lisa Peterson, executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. “Increasing the number of individual birds and maintaining genetic diversity in North America is an extremely important part of our work. As Egyptian vulture numbers continue to decline in their native habitat, the genetic line of every individual becomes increasingly more important to the continuation of this species.”

                  A chick named Jamila was successfully hatched earlier this year, and she is the offspring of the only Western Egyptian vulture breeding pair in North America. She is also the first hatchling of the species in San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s 105-year-history. To ensure Jamila’s survival after hatching, wildlife care specialists used 40 years of experience conserving threatened vultures by puppet rearing her—a practice where they passed food to Jamila from the beak of a lifelike hand puppet resembling an adult vulture. This care process is particularly valuable to the successful rearing of a chick from a species with such low population numbers, and with inexperienced parents. It also ensures that the chick not only receives proper care, but also does not form a bond with humans.

                  “Puppet versus hand rearing is an important distinction to make, as these are very intelligent animals that can easily imprint on humans, if we are not careful,” said Peterson. “Due to the low numbers of Egyptian vultures, each one is very special. The likelihood of survival for each offspring is greatly increased by assisting with rearing in the early years of a program. The California condor program is a great example of how this method is used.”

                  Worldwide, vultures are considered one of the most threatened groups of birds, yet they are essential to a healthy ecosystem—preventing the spread of disease to other wildlife and to humans. The well-known California condor program is a noteworthy conservation success story as it not only allowed scientists to study the species, but also helped them develop and enhance the systems necessary to preserve a vital vulture species that was near extinction. California condors are just one of 19 of the world’s 23 vulture species that San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has cared for, and the Egyptian vulture is the 11th species that has successfully bred at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Moving forward, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance plans to use its vulture expertise to continue increasing this species populations, and work with additional partners—including zoos and other conservation institutions—to help supplement the program when needed.