Zoo Animals Playing with Pumpkins Part II (Halloween 2021)

21 minutes of 2021 "pumpkin-richment" at Accredited Zoos & Aquariums!

 @Association of Zoos & Aquariums 

Cover Photo Credit:  @Seattle Aquarium  (L)  @Zoovienna Tiergarten Schönbrunn  (R)

Video Credit:

 @Nashville Zoo   @San Diego Zoo Safari Park   @Loveland Living Planet Aquarium   @PtDefianceZoo1   @The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden   @Copenhagen ZOO  @Jimmy’s Farm  @Brookfield Zoo   @Phoenix Zoo   @Drusillas Park   @Fort Worth Zoo   @Paradise Wildlife Park   @Brevard Zoo   @Kansas City Zoo   @Minnesota Zoo   @San Antonio Zoo   @Knowsley Safari   @Oregon Zoo   @Alaska SeaLife Center  @Wildheart Animal Sanctuary  @San Antonio Zoo   @The Florida Aquarium   @IndianapolisZoo   @Paradise Wildlife Park   @Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society  @Salisbury Zoological Park  @Chester Zoo  @Sealife Adventure  @Mystic Aquarium  @SEA LIFE Centre Weymouth  @Milwaukee County Zoo  @ZSL Whipsnade Zoo  @Adventure Aquarium   @Fota Wildlife Park   @Tennessee Aquarium   @San Diego Zoo   @Aquarium of the Pacific   @San Antonio Zoo   @Toronto Zoo   @Audubon Nature Institute   @South Carolina Aquarium   @National Marine Aquarium ​

26 minutes of 2021 "pumpkin-richment" at Accredited Zoos & Aquariums!

Cover Photo Credit: https://www.seattleaquarium.org/ (L) https://www.zoovienna.at/en/ (R)

Video Credit: https://rosamondgiffordzoo.org/  https://www.sbzoo.org/  @LA Zoo   @Reid Park Zoo  @NWTrekWildlifePark @Welsh Mountain Zoo  @PtDefianceZoo1   @Lion Country Safari   @Fort Worth Zoo  @Oceanarium  @OklahomaCityZoo   @Brookfield Zoo   @Columbus Zoo and Aquarium   @Utah's Hogle Zoo  @The Belfast Zoo  @Roger Williams Park Zoo   @Zoologische Gärten Berlin   @Brookfield Zoo   @stlzootube   @The Florida Aquarium   @The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore   @Loro Parque   @Smithsonian's National Zoo   @ZooMontana's Jeff the Nature Guy   @Houston Zoo   @Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society   @Naples Zoo   @Roger Williams Park Zoo   @Nashville Zoo   @LincolnChildrensZoo  @North Carolina Aquarium Roanoke Island  @ZOO Wrocław ​

On September 29, an infant white-cheeked gibbon was born at Poland’s Zoo Wroclaw. The baby is the child of Xian and Carusa and is believed to be a male. The population of white-cheeked gibbons in the wild is declining at an alarming pace. Only 150-160 individuals have been counted in nature. Zoos are becoming their only chance for their survival. Carusa and Xian are the only pair of white-cheeked gibbons in Poland. Just over 200 in zoos around the world have them in care.

Gray as an Indian rhinoceros and just as rare: There are “cool” offspring in the Schönbrunn Zoo. On September 9th, a Tyrolean gray cattle saw the light of day at the Tirolerhof. “The Tyrolean gray cattle is an old Austrian livestock breed. That's why a typical name had to be found. The father is called Sedinus and the name of the little bull should traditionally start with the same letter. So we called him Seppl ”, says district manager Gerold Vierbauch. Seppl currently weighs around 50 kilograms. When fully grown, it can weigh up to a ton. Until then he still has to eat a lot of hay. That is currently only nibbled. “Seppl is suckled up to the age of seven months. Lena is a great mother cow and takes great care of her first offspring. "

At the Tirolerhof, the zoo brings its visitors closer to old farm animal breeds. Since 2018, after a break for a few years, the Tyrolean gray cattle have been living here again. The breed is critically endangered. Making them known is also the concern of the Tyrolean Gray Cattle Breeding Association, which coordinates the breeding. Managing Director Raphael Kuen: “There are currently only 5,000 registered breeding cows in Austria. The gray cattle are a piece of Tyrolean cultural heritage that we want to preserve. ”It is a so-called dual-purpose breed that provides both a relatively large amount of milk and good meat. She often lives in the Tyrolean Oberland on small farms with few animals. Like at the Tirolerhof in Vienna, where Seppl prefers to dash through the facility with the two weeks younger bee, an original Brown Swiss.

A 2-week-old male cheetah cub from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, was transferred to a new cheetah foster mother at Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, Sunday, Oct. 3. SCBI staff were hand-raising the cub, born Sept. 16, who had been abandoned by his mother. It is important for cheetah cubs to learn species-appropriate behaviors and skills from their mothers and siblings. The SCBI cub was successfully introduced to Wildlife Safari’s cheetah foster mother, Jezebel, and integrated into her litter of four cubs.

SCBI is part of the Cheetah Breeding Center Coalition—a group of 10 cheetah breeding centers across the United States that aim to create and maintain a sustainable North American cheetah population under human care. Wildlife Safari was the next institution in the Cheetah Breeding Center Coalition to have cubs. The male cub will remain at Wildlife Safari with his new family until he is at least 2 years old.

Last Thursday, Oct. 21, Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute’s cheetah mom Rosalie picked a new "den" for her cubs. She moved them, one by one, to a large clump of tall grasses in her yard. The area was well-protected, and it is not uncommon for cheetah moms to move dens. Animal care staff monitored Rosalie and the cubs but did not intervene, as Rosalie has been a very attentive mother. Unfortunately, was no webcam in the grass so the Cubs’ adoring fans had stayed tuned for updates!

Why did Rosalie move her cubs? Was she scared or spooked?

It is not known why Rosalie moved her cubs. It’s completely natural for cheetah moms to move their litters. In fact, every single one of the Zoo’s females has moved cubs during the first month of life except for one. The grasses are also a very popular spot for cheetah moms to move their cubs within the first month – five have in recent memory: Amani (2011), Sanurra (2015), Hope (2017), Erin (2018), and Echo (2020).

Weather can also play a factor. This time of the year is hard. It’s warm during the day and moms get very warm inside the dens. But it’s also still chilly to be outside at night. So, it is a hard time of year to be in one place or the other 100% of the time. The warm days could have encouraged Rosalie to move her cubs out. She was observed panting in the den during the day. She had also been in that den for almost two weeks straight! It was likely pretty gross and stinky in there. In the wild, they wouldn’t stay in one place too long because the smell would attract predators.

On Sunday, Oct. 24, cheetah mom Rosalie moved her five cubs back into the den with a webcam.  It took her about 30 minutes total to move all the cubs, as you can see in this video.

Cheetah Cub Cam: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/cheetah-cub-cam

A dwarf seahorse birth was caught on camera at The Florida Aquarium. One of the biologists who cares for these seahorses was walking by one morning and witnessed and filmed the birth.

The seahorse gave birth to 8 babies, who measure around three mm in length. The adult dwarf seahorses are generally around one inch in length, and are the third smallest seahorse species in the world.

This species generally mate during a full moon and give birth 10-14 days later.

Arnhem Rhino Breeding Program Proves Highly Successful

On Tuesday, 26 October 2021, at 3:00, a healthy-looking square-lipped rhinoceros was born at Royal Burgers' Zoo

Royal Burgers' Zoo remains one of Europe's most successful breeders of square-lipped rhinoceros. The latest addition to the Arnhem crash was born in the heated enclosure on Tuesday, 26 October at 3:00. The experienced mother has birthed a total of eight calves, her latest being the fourteenth rhinoceros to be born in Arnhem since 1977. A total of 295 square-lipped rhinoceros live in 75 European zoos—127 bulls and 168 cows.

The most plentiful but endangered

Of the five rhinoceros species in the world, the square-lipped rhinoceros is the most plentiful in the wild. However, every year, dozens to hundreds of animals fall prey to poachers, who are particularly interested in the valuable horn. The population of square-lipped rhinoceros in all European zoos is currently 295 animals. With fourteen rhinoceros births since 1977, Royal Burgers' Zoo is one of the main purveyors to the population management in European zoos. 

European population management programme

Safaripark Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands coordinates the European population management programme for square-lipped rhinoceros. The best matches between animals are made using DNA research to maximize the genetic variation within the population. Under this programme, animals are moved to and from zoos with square-lipped rhinoceros throughout Europe. 

Livestream of the birth

The birth of the rhino calf could be followed live thanks to a livestream from the rhinoceros enclosure: https://tinyurl.com/ys6v9njx. The mother is highly experienced and has successfully raised seven calves, which helped the birth go smoothly. Mother and calf will stay in the cosy, heated enclosure for the first few weeks, regularly going outside for fresh air in the adjacent, off-exhibit enclosure. Visitors can watch 24/7 live footage of the mother and calf in the rhinoceros enclosure. 

Austria’s Schönbrunn Zoo is happy to have offspring among the southern dwarf mongooses: three young animals were born in mid-September and are now making their first excursions out of their den. “The young animals are curious and they explore the facility, dig in the sand and play with each other. If one of the little ones moves too far, the adult animals carry it back into the protective burrow in their mouths,” says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck. At first glance, dwarf mongooses are often confused with meerkats. No wonder, both species belong to the mongoose family. However, as the name suggests, dwarf mongooses are among the smallest species of mongoose. Even fully grown, they only weigh around 300 grams.

Southern dwarf mongooses are native to the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa. They like to colonize abandoned termite mounds, which give them protection at night and a good view of the surrounding area during the day. It is also insects that are mainly on the menu of the little hunters. Your social system is exciting. Hering-Hagenbeck: “Dwarf mongooses live socially in small groups and rely on teamwork when they live together. Only the highest-ranking female gets the offspring, but everyone helps with the rearing. ”The young animals, whose sex is not yet known, are suckled in the first seven weeks of life. But they already try grasshoppers, mealworms and minced meat.

Photos by: Daniel Zupanc

Remember Moric, the baby orangutan born in August 2020 at Budapest Zoo?

ZooBorns shared an outstanding video of the bond with his mother in the weeks following his birth.

Well...

He’s ba-ack!

Móric, who is almost fifteen months old, always discovering new things.

Although he often travels on his mom’s back, he is fascinated by climbing and playing too, And then, there’s the straw!!

The Zoo often provides video updates of Moric’s daily adventures outside—

—but as the autumn weather starts to kick in, he’s spending a lot of time indoors too.