Photo Credit: Susan Pearson

A Red-flanked Duiker was born the end of January, at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The diminutive bovid was recently photographed enjoying the California sun.

The Red-flanked Duiker (Cephalophus rufilatus) is a species of small antelope found in western and central Africa. They grow to almost 15 in (35 cm) in height and weigh up to 31 lb (14 kg). Their coats are russet, with greyish-black legs and backs, and white underbellies.

Red-flanked Duiker feed on leaves, fallen fruits, seeds and flowers, and sometimes twigs and shoots. The adults are territorial, living in savannah and lightly wooded habitats.

The females usually produce a single offspring each year. Breeding and births tend to occur year round as young animals have been seen during the wet and dry season. Gestation is about five-and-a-half months. Duikers are considered precocial but are concealed in vegetation by their mother for several weeks after birth. They are sexually mature when they are about one year old, but probably do not breed until later. Lifespan in captivity is up to 10 years.

Adult males and females are, in general, similar in appearance, but males have short backward-pointing horns up to 9 cm (3.5 in) long. Females are often hornless, or may have shorter horns. Both males and females have large preorbital glands on their snout in front of their eyes, which form bulges in their cheeks. These are common to all members of the genus Cephalophus but they are larger in the Red-flanked Duiker than in other species.

The Red-flanked Duiker is an adaptable species. The removal of trees by logging and the conversion of its natural habitat into more open savannah and farmland have allowed it to increase its range. It is fairly common in the areas in which it is found, though numbers are decreasing, in general, due to severe hunting pressure.

The Red-flanked Duiker was one of the four most frequent species of bushmeat on sale in the Republic of Guinea, along with Maxwell's Duiker (Cephalophus maxwelli), the Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), and the Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus).

However, the Red-flanked Duiker occurs in a number of reserves and protected areas where it is less liable to be killed for meat, and it is currently classified as “Least Concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

The Los Angeles Zoo welcomed a male Masai Giraffe calf, on November 20^th. 

Photo Credits: Los Angeles Zoo

The calf was born to six-year-old mother ‘Hasina’, and 18-year-old father, ‘Artemus’. This is the second calf for Hasina, who came from the San Diego Zoo in 2010.

This is a birth the L.A. Zoo is thankful for, as the population of giraffes across the African continent is drastically declining due to hunting and habitat loss.

A Los Angeles area couple also felt a connection to the baby giraffe, and they made the decision to ‘adopt’ the baby and chose to name him ‘Leo’. In making a significant gift to the Zoo’s animal acquisition fund, which promotes vital wildlife preservation and breeding projects locally and around the world, donors Patricia and Stanley Silver chose to name the baby giraffe after Mrs. Silver’s late father, Leo Guthman.

Leo can now be seen on exhibit with the other giraffes daily, weather permitting.

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens has announced the birth of a healthy Takin! She was born on February 12 and can now be seen on exhibit.

Related to sheep, Takin are a goat-antelope found in the eastern Himalayas. There are four different subspecies: the Sichuan or Tibetan Takin, the Mishmi Takin, the Shaanxi or Golden Takin, and the Bhutan Takin. The Takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

Photo credit: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Takin live in family groups of up to 30 individuals, and travel seasonally to feed on leaves and grasses at different elevations. They are found in grassy alpine zones as well as forested valleys. Threatened by overhunting and habitat loss and fragmentation, the species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.