Keepers at Dudley Zoo and Castle (DZC) are overjoyed to announce the birth of a critically endangered Bornean orangutan.
Mum, Jazz, aged 30, has been proudly showing her newborn son to visitors over the last few days in the site’s newly-built £500,000 outdoor enclosure.
Dad to the youngster, is 33-year-old Djimat, who arrived at DZC from Denmark in October last year as part of a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) after being carefully genetically matched by studbook experts.
Excited keepers at Dudley Zoo and Castle have announced the birth of its first rare Linne’s two-toed sloth.
Mum Flo, gave birth to her first youngster late afternoon on April 4, with the arrival coming as a surprise to staff who spotted the baby as they delivered our pair of Linne’s two-toed sloths their supper.
The baby is the first offspring of Lyra and Bubbles, but is also the first anteater birth in Dudley Zoo & Castle’s 85-year history and came as a surprise to keepers who made the wonderful discovery on January 17.
DZC Curator Richard Brown, said: “The first baby anteater in our zoo history is fabulous news, especially as we’re marking such a milestone anniversary year.
“Lyra is coping well with first-time motherhood and the pup, who’s yet to be sexed, also appears healthy and alert.
Dudley Zoo and Castle is thrilled to announce the birth of a critically endangered Colombian black spider monkey, which was captured on camera by one of its delighted primate keepers.
Twenty year-old Valentine gave birth to the tiny baby on January 10, just as Senior Keeper, Harley Hunt arrived at their indoor den.
Senior Keeper Harley Hunt said: “As soon as I realised Valentine was giving birth and the baby was very imminent, I grabbed my phone and hid by the window, filming through the glass while trying to watch what was unfolding at the same time.
The little male was born on March 6 to eleven-year-old mum, Jimma, and 14-year-old dad, Ebano. According to keepers, this is the sixth Gelada to be born at the Zoo since 2014.
Senior Keeper, Jodie Dryden, said, “This is Jimma’s second baby, so she’s already an experienced mum and the newborn looks to be thriving!”
Photo Credits: Dudley Zoological Gardens
The new little boy has been given the name “Jinka.” The name is inspired by a market town in southern Ethiopia – the native homeland of the species. Keeper, Stephanie Ballard, was the first to find the newborn and gave the infant the moniker.
Section Leader, Jodie Dryden, shared, “We let Stephanie choose his name as it was her first ever zoo baby discovery, so he’s extra special!”
“And Jinka’s perfect, as it’s also a town near Jimma, which is his mum’s name. She’s still keeping a close hold of Jinka at the moment, but the other youngsters are beginning to get more inquisitive around him, although it won’t be long until he’s also gamboling around the bank with them all.”
The troop at Dudley is part of a European Endangered Species Programme. Prior to the latest birth, they had four juvenile boys: Billie, Ambo, Gimbi and Dendi, as well as Kadida, their only little girl. Ebano is father to all of the juveniles in the troop.
Jimma is joined by fellow adult females: Tana and Addis (who also both have two offspring each).
Gestation for Gelada’s is usually around six months. Mothers will carry the baby on their stomach for the first few weeks before transferring it to their back. The youngster will begin to gain more independence around five-months-old.
The Gelada (Theropithecus gelada), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species found in the Ethiopian Highlands. It is largely terrestrial, spending much of its time foraging in grasslands.
Twin Black and White Ruffed Lemurs born on February 19 are ready to explore their world at the United Kingdom’s Dudley Zoo.
Photo Credit: Dudley Zoo
The babies were born to 17-year-old Olivia and her 25-year-old mate, Broom. Since birth, the twins have been snuggled in their nest box with Olivia. But last week, one of the twins attempted a bold escape from the nest box when Olivia wasn’t looking! A nearby zoo keeper caught the escapade on camera. The babies now regularly explore their indoor habitat under mom's watchful eye.
The birth of these twins is significant because Black and White Ruffed Lemurs are Critically Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Found only on the island of Madagascar, these Lemurs have experienced a severe decline in population in the last few decades – up to an 80% drop by some estimates. Their large size (compared to other Lemurs) makes then a prime target for poachers and hunters who are trying to feed their families.
Efforts to reintroduce captive-born Lemurs to the wild have been suspended because there is little suitable habitat left for reintroduction. Madagascar’s forests and natural areas have been drastically altered due to human activity, including slash-and-burn agriculture.
A female Sulawesi Crested Macaque, born July 21st, is the first macaque birth at Dudley Zoological Gardens, in the UK, in three and a half years!
Some visitors were lucky enough to witness the amazing birth, and shortly afterwards, keen photographer and Dudley Zoological Gardens (DZG) member, Kathryn Willett, snapped a beautiful family portrait of the little one with mum Jasmine and dad Simon.
Dudley Zoo Director, Derek Grove said, “This is a stunning picture of mum, dad and the new baby. It's rare to get good photos of them all together as the mother usually keeps the baby hidden away at first. It just shows how comfortable the macaques are with our visitors, as the birth took place in their wooden shelter, rather than mum moving to a more private area. Some visitors managed to witness the birth itself which is absolutely amazing and we are thrilled with the news."
Photo Credits: Kathryn Willett
DZG's Head of Upper Primates, Pat Stevens, added, “The birth was only a couple of days after the due date we’d calculated for Jasmine, and the baby is doing great. It is healthy and clinging on really well to mum.”
Female macaques give birth after a 174 day gestation period, and usually a single offspring is born. Young animals are nursed for one year and become fully mature in three to four years, females sooner than males.
The tiny macaque has been hugely popular at Dudley Zoo, and once keepers discovered her sex, she was given the moniker Summer, in honor of her time of birth.
Summer is now two-and-a-half month’s old and her popularity continues. She is also reaching all the important milestones in her growth and development. Pat Stevens remarked, “She is doing really well and is coming off mum quite a bit now.”
There’s much excitement at the United Kingdom’s Dudley Zoo! Three Carpathian Lynx cubs – the first ever born at the zoo – arrived on May 23.
Photo Credit: Dudley Zoological Gardens
The triplets have been tucked in their den with mother Daisy since birth, but they started to explore the great outdoors this week.
Assistant Curator Richard Brown said of first-time mother Daisy, “We’re all absolutely delighted with the cubs’ progress. We've got a few more weeks to wait until we find out what sex they are, when we'll also be giving them their first vaccinations."
Dad is three-year-old Dave, who remains in the enclosure with Daisy and their offspring.
Carpathian Lynx are a subspecies of Eurasian Lynx found in the Carpathian mountains of Romania. Scientists believe that about 2,500 Lynx live in these forests, the densest population in all of Europe.
Lynx are secretive cats, and are most active early in the morning and late at night. They feed on hares, birds, and other small prey.
In some parts of Europe, these cats are locally extinct due to loss of habitat.
Introducing Dudley Zoological Gardens' newest arrival: an eight-week-old Snow Leopard cub! The cub is the first Snow Leopard to be born at the zoo in 12 years. The youngster, who was born on May 2, has been nicknamed Cub X by keepers until they confirm its sex. The baby made its public debut recently and delighted visitors with five-minute play-arounds with mom, Nanga, aged four. Dad is three-year-old Margaash. Assistant Curator Richard Brown said, "Nanga is a first-time mum so it's such a relief that they have bonded well. You can see the baby developing every day, it's wonderful to watch, and already it seems quite a feisty little cub."
Photo credits: Tal Chohan / Dudley Zoo
Photographer Tal Choha said, "The youngster's routine at the moment is to sleep for two hours, play for five minutes, sleep for two hours, then play for another five minutes, so I had to make sure I got there in time for those crucial five minutes!" Sneak a peek at the cub's playtime in the video below. (Spoiler: there's some tail-chasing action ahead!)
Although he was born in June, Dudley Zoo keepers got their
first close-up look at their baby Red Panda during its first check up last week.
The baby, a male, tried to hide behind a tree when keepers
came to retrieve him, but he was ultimately caught, sexed, and
microchipped. After they knew the baby’s
gender, keepers named him Jasper.
Jasper is the third Red Panda to be born to female Yasmin
and her mate, Yang.
Red Pandas typically remain in the nest box for the first few months of
life. Dudley Zoo keepers allowed mother
and baby complete privacy during this important bonding time.
Now that Jasper has emerged from the nest, he’s showing his playful side: He peeks out of his nest box and quickly
ducks back inside when someone spots him.
Red pandas are endangered in their native Tibetan
range. In zoos, they are cooperatively
managed to maintain a strong genetic diversity within the population.