Monarto Safari Park is roaring with excitement to welcome four cubs to the world, with African Lion Husani (pronounced who-saa-nee) giving birth to a healthy litter.
The little lions were born on Wednesday 30 August.
Senior Keeper of Carnivores, Rachel Hemming, says mum and cubs are doing well.
We just had to share this heartwarming vision of three-year-old Zola playing at 'being mum' with little chimp, Happy.
In the film you can see Zola carefully preparing a nest for her 'make believe' baby (actually a stone), then being allowed to carry her little troop friend, five-month-old Happy, under the close supervision of mum Hannah before lastly, having a careful cuddle with the very wriggly one while Hannah watches on.
"Zola has always had a very maternal side and we have often caught her playing with rocks and building nests for her stones, even picking them up and carrying in her leg pocket as some ape mother's do. Since Happy was born, Hannah has been allowing Zola to get closer and closer to her baby boy. Recently she was allowed to carry him under Hannah's guidance and often has him in her lap," says Laura Hanley, Senior Keeper Primates, Monarto Safari Park.
"While sister Hope is interested in her brother, Zola is infatuated," finished Laura.
Chimpanzees, like humans, are highly social animals and often share the caring of young.
Monarto Safari Park is home to troop of 13 Chimpanzees and supports the Jane Goodall Institute Australia as well as Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone.
For more information about the Chimpanzee troop and how you can support the species conservation, please visit monartosafari.com.au.
Monarto, SOUTH AUSTRALIA — May 15, 2023 - Monarto Safari Park vet Jerome Kalvas and keeper Michelle Lloyd no longer have to join the dots when it comes to determining the sex of Cheetah Qailee’s litter after performing a full health check on the eight and nine week-old cubs.
“We have a boy and a girl as well as the female foster cub. It’s great news,” said Jerome.
The three cubs were each weighed, microchipped, vaccinated and given a body condition score with Jerome giving each one the clean bill of health.
When a single Cheetah cub was born at Monarto Safari Park late in the night on Sunday 5 March, keepers were delighted but concerned.
This was just the beginning of a very spotty ‘tail’ that ended in an Australasian first for Zoos SA.
The female cub was born to seven-year-old Quella, but when particular big cat species like Cheetah give birth to one cub, called a singleton, they cannot produce enough milk to sustain their newborn.
Monarto Safari Park Keeper Laura shared this gorgeous video of the newest addition to the Chimapnzee troop snuggling with mum, Hannah.
Now two weeks old, Happy is doing really well and can be seen in the dayroom or enjoying the sunshine with Hannah, sister Hope and the rest of the troop.
To celebrate Happy's arrival Monarto officals would love it if you could bring along any old mobile phones and their chargers when you visit Monarto Safari Park and pop them in the recycling bin on the Chimpanzee platform.
The recycling of old devices helps them to raise funds for the https://www.janegoodall.org.au/ through the 'They're Calling on You' campaign. 🐾
Yesterday (January 4th), Monarto Safari Park welcomed its fifth calf within a year to 17-year-old Thula.
While initial signs of bonding between mum and bub were promising, it was apparent this morning that the calf had not been fed by his mum and the decision was made to hand raise the calf at Adelaide Zoo.
Monarto Safari Park’s Spotted Hyena cub has had its first health check, with veterinary staff and keepers delighted the little one is in ‘tip-spot’ shape.
The two-month-old cub was carefully removed from its den to be weighed, examined, vaccinated and microchipped at the end of October. A small skin DNA sample was also taken and sent to Serengeti Hyena Research Group in Berlin to determine the cub’s sex.
Who could resist that little face? An adorable little chocolate-brown cub has joined the Spotted Hyena clan at Monarto Safari Park.
Born at the end of August, keepers have been monitoring the clan while allowing time for the little one to bond with mum, 14-year-old Forest and dad 19-year-old Gamba.
Spotted Hyena cubs are born with a black or brown coat, a full set of teeth and their eyes open.