Two months after the miracle birth of ‘Little Red’ the Endangered red panda at Paradise Wildlife Park that stole the hearts of the world, it was time for the first health check with the vet.

In August, Paradise Wildlife Park announced the miracle birth of ‘Little Red’ after the tragic passing of their dad Nam Pang back in June. The story took the world by storm and Tilly the mum and ‘Little Red’ have become loved across the world for their heartfelt story.

Paradise Wildlife Park is proud to announce that their rare Black Hornbills have hatched a second pair of chicks, in what is thought of to be a world-first known documented event within the species.

Back in April, the breeding pair were announced to be the first pair in Europe to hatch and rear a healthy chick during a two-year period. The Hornbill pair have defied all previous known knowledge about the species, having successfully bred and hatched a pair of chicks for the second time in one year. Both chicks are currently healthy and growing alongside attentive mum Mulu inside the nest box.

Paradise Wildlife Park is proud to announce that their endangered red panda; Tilly has given birth to a miracle cub one month after the devastating passing of her partner Nam Pang, creating a lasting legacy in his honour.

In the early hours of 16th of July on one of the hottest days in UK history, the zoo’s CCTV cameras captured the incredible moment when their red panda Tilly gave birth to a miraculous, beautiful and healthy cub. The cub is currently being called ‘little red’ until the cub is old enough to have its first health checks by the vet in the upcoming months.

Paradise Wildlife Park is excited to announce the birth of an endangered African Penguin chick and there’s no better reason to smile this Blue Monday as they couldn’t be any cuter!

On the morning of 20th December, our bird keepers arrived to discover the newest addition to our penguin colony snuggled under the feathers of their parents Albert and Akiki. The chick has grown strong and healthy since birth under the careful watchful eye of its parents and the bird-keeping team. With the vet coming in soon for the first weight check, we are sure it will be a healthy number for sure!

This small female pygmy hippopotamus was born on November 11 at the Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine in France. She is the 3rd calf of Clafouti and Leah, a couple who had already had a male baby in 2012 and a female in 2015.

Named Quilla, the little calf is doing well and staying warm with her mother until spring arrives. She enjoys showers and long naps. She’s quickly putting on the pounds too, about 300 to 400 g per day, thanks to her mother's very rich milk.

Meanwhile, at Paradise Wildlife Park in England, the baby Pygmy Marmosets born July 24th this year have been given names. In a nod to the species’ status as the smallest living monkey, they were given suitably diminutive names. Introducing Pouco and Pequeno, named after two Portuguese words meaning little.

The Big Cat Sanctuary are proud to announce the latest addition to the cat family! On 6^th April 2021 our resident jaguars Keira and Neron became parents to a rare black female jaguar cub.

So far, our little cub has been doing brilliantly. She is a stunning black jaguar and is often seen cuddling up and playing with mum, Keira. Whilst Keira takes a break from parenting, the Keeping Team ‘baby-sit’ and carry out necessary health checks such as weighing as well as familiarisation time.

The UK's Paradise Wildlife Park announced the birth three Tenrec babies! Born to mom Maisy on the 10th of July, these prickly little balls look a lot like Hedgehogs... but are, in fact, completely unrelated! They have simply evolved the same method of defense, which is to roll up in a ball so that predators are met with only their outer coat of prickles. This is called convergent evolution, a process by which organisms not closely related independently evolve to have similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.

Tenrecs hail from the island of Madagascar but can be found in areas on the African mainland as well. They live and forage for food up in the trees, so they are particularly good climbers. They tend to be omnivorous, the largest part of their diets being comprised of invertebrates. Most species are nocturnal; while their eyesight is not that sharp, their other senses are very well developed. Their whiskers are especially sensitive, aiding them as they move around branches and leaves in the dark. 

Photo Credit: Paradise Wildlife Park

The new babies are in the farmyard section and can often be seen out and about by lucky guests.

See more pictures of the Baby Tenrecs, after the fold:

On February 14, Meerkat mom Twig delivered three kits at the Paradise Wildlife Park in the United Kingdom.  The little Meerkats, all males, were named Mr. Darcy, Romeo, and Puck after characters in classic romantic stories.  The trio’s arrival brings the grand total of Meerkats at the park to 13.

Photo Credits:  Paradise Wildlife Park

It doesn’t take Meerkat kits very long to become busy, active members of their clan.  At about three weeks old, the kits emerged from the burrow for the first time and quickly learned to forage with the adults.  They now spend much of their day investigating their exhibit and playing with each other, according to the Park’s staff.

In the wild, Meerkats construct a complex system of underground burrows in which they sleep, bear young, and hide from predators.  They live in family groups of 20-30 individuals and often share duties parenting the young, acting as lookouts, and babysitting kits.  Meerkats spend most of the day foraging for insects, bird and reptile eggs, lizards, scorpions, spiders, and small mammals. 

Meerkats are native to southernmost Africa, where they inhabit portions of the Kalahari and Namib deserts, Angola, and South Africa.  They are not considered a threatened species. 

See more photos below the fold:

Tank is a Hermann's Tortoise and he's about 4 months old. He has a brother who's even teenier and tinier than he is. He was left to the U.K.'s Paradise Wildlife Park by their former head of reptiles as a leaving present.

Hermann's Tortoises live across Southern Europe, although their once expansive range has been reduced to scattered pockets. Abundant as pets in captivity, this species is in significant decline in the wild due to habitat destruction.

Photo credit: Paradise Wildlife Park

Keepers at Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire in the UK were stunned after one of their Meerkats gave birth to six pups in one litter. It's an incredibly rare occurrence -- a normal litter is between two and four kits -- and it's even more unusual that their mom, Twig, is successfully raising them all. What's more, she gave birth to two babies just two months ago, and to another one two months before that!

Meerkat keeper Jessie Croone said, “I came in early to check on them last week, and when I lifted the lid off of their nest box, I had the shock of my life. There was just a mass of baby meerkats! I couldn't even count them all at first, there were so many!”

Slender-tailed meerkats live in large family groups called mobs in their native habitat of the Kalihari and Namib deserts. Mobs are matriarchal and are run by one breeding pair. The top female is the only female in the group permitted to breed, but all of the others in the group help to raise the young. Meerkats have risen massively in popularity in recent years, from exposure as Alexandr in the car insurance marketing campaign and television programs such as Meerkat Manor.

Photo Credit: Paradise Wildlife Park

More meerkat pictures and information after the jump: