As snow fell across most parts of the UK last night and in the early hours of the morning, it was not only people waking up to a large covering of snow. Animals at the Hertfordshire Zoo Paradise Wildlife Park woke up to a rather unusual morning at the zoo.

The tiny paws have ventured out to the great outdoors!  The Endangered red panda cub fondly known as ‘Little Red’ that captured the hearts of the world in the Summer has stepped outside for the first time. Paradise Wildlife Park announced the miracle birth after the very sad passing of their male red panda Nam Pang.

There’s no better time to bring awareness to the Penguin species this International African Penguin Awareness Day on the 15th of this month, with the celebration of the hatching of two Endangered African Penguin chicks at Paradise Wildlife Park.

On the 11th of September 2022, Paradise’s bird keepers arrived to discover the two newest additions to their penguin colony snuggled under the feathers of the parents Albert and Akiki. The chicks have grown strong and healthy since hatching under the careful watchful eye of their parents and the bird-keeping team at Paradise Wildlife Park. With the first weigh-in yesterday, both twins around just over 1 kilo which is a great healthy number one month in!

The birth of the penguin chick twins brings Paradise Wildlife Parks colony of African penguins to 19. With the parents Albert and Akiki doing exceptionally well in caring for their young, including last year's chick Marli checking in too. Paradise Wildlife Parks, African penguins are part of the European Ex-situ programme (EEP). A governing body aimed at protecting and conserving the health and genetic pools of endangered species. As currently recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African penguins are listed as Endangered due to changes in habitats and environment. This success within the breeding program is a positive moment within the zoo community and for their wild counterparts.

Paradise Wildlife Park supports and aids the conservation of Endangered African penguins in the wild through the work of SANCCOB. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds; a registered non-profit organisation, whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds. With the hope that through their efforts and support of conservation charities penguins like many other species will be around for generations to come.

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: