Adorable baby hedgehogs arrived at Zoo Wroclaw (Poland) on March 31^st.

Mom is caring for the littles ones very well. You will find them at the Sahara pavilion, just next to the Zoo’s main entrance.

On September 29, an infant white-cheeked gibbon was born at Poland’s Zoo Wroclaw. The baby is the child of Xian and Carusa and is believed to be a male. The population of white-cheeked gibbons in the wild is declining at an alarming pace. Only 150-160 individuals have been counted in nature. Zoos are becoming their only chance for their survival. Carusa and Xian are the only pair of white-cheeked gibbons in Poland. Just over 200 in zoos around the world have them in care.

A bear cuscus has been born at Zoo Wrocław!

Why is this birth so special? Only 4 zoos in the world house this species and only in Wrocław has it been bred successfully. In nature, bear cuscuses live only on the island of Celebes in Indonesia, and soon they may become completely extinct. The bear cuscus is one of the rarest, least known, and most endangered species of animals on Earth!

This animal has a massive body reaching up to 10 kg and 60 cm in length. Its bear-like fur is soft and dark. It has a large head with a short snout, piercing eyes and a pink nose, paws with sharp claws, and a long prehensile tail. It resembles a miniature bear but it is a marsupial. It lives in the rainforests on the island of Celebes. The bear cuscus is an arboreal animal but moves slowly, carefully reaching branches. It feeds mainly on leaves but also likes flowers, buds, and unripe fruits. These animals are not very social, they live in pairs or small groups and communicate via scents and vocalizations. They reproduce as they live-slowly. Although little is known about this process, it has been established that the female usually gives birth to one underdeveloped young per year that lives in her pouch for 6-7 months. The bear cuscus prefers to live in areas untouched by humans. Its inability to adapt to changing conditions makes all the obvious problems such as climate change, deforestation, or poaching even more threatening. It also hampers the research and conservation efforts. Despite such complications, the employees of the Wrocław zoo have successfully bred this species for the fourth time. This is a huge success on a global scale and a confirmation that the bear cuscus can be saved from extinction thanks to zoo breeding programs.

For the first time in history, the birth of the Philippine mouse-deer was recorded on camera. The baby was born at ZOO Wroclaw on the night of November 10 this year, around 2:24am.

Poland's  @ZOO Wrocław  Welcomes a tiny baby sloth on September 15th. This was the first such birth at the zoo. The parents are ten-year-old Celina and fourteen-year-old Apollo. The sloth's sex is not yet known.

The second manatee born (September 11, 2020) in Poland this year and the fourth in three years is a female! This is important for conservation programs run by zoos. There are only 8 such facilities in the Europe and 20 in the world. At the moment the mother (Ling) is not nursing, so ZOO Wrocław had to step in. The baby gets special milk formula for manatees, which Wroclaw imports from Australia.

Two capybaras were born in front of visitors to Poland’s Zoo Wroclaw on Sunday, August 23. They are the first babies of this species born here since 2014. The reason for the long break was the zoo’s 7-year-old female Kiler J. After many failed attempts to pair her with a suitable mate, she finally chose 3-year-old Hans as her partner. The sex of the pups is not yet known, but caretakers say that if at least one pup is female, she will be named for the visitor who first reported the birth.

The capybara (Latin Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest rodent in the world. Males reach a body weight of about 30 kg. In the wild, its range is almost all of South America.

If it resembles a guinea pig, that’s because the species are closely related.

The capybara population in the wild is currently stable, but in South America, soybean cultivation threatens its natural habitat. Like all wild animals, Capybaras make terrible pets.

An African Fur Seal born on June 17 at Poland’s Zoo Wrocław is already charming zoo guests and her care team with her winning personality.

The pup was named Zuri by her fans on social media. The name comes from Shona, a language used by the Bantu peoples in the Seals’ native African home.

Photo Credit: Zoo Wrocław

A minor health issue resulted in Zuri requiring extra care from her keepers. Fortunately, Zuri turned out to be perfectly healthy, but her care team now has a special bond with the little Seal.

Zuri still nurses from her mother Nabi. She is the fourth African Sea Lion pup to be born at Zoo Wrocław. Her three siblings provide her with plenty of playmates. Zuri is still learning to swim, so she has yet to join the group in the main pool, preferring instead to practice swimming in a mini-pool behind the scenes.

The zoo’s Seals participate in daily training sessions, which zoo guests can watch. The training sessions allow the Seals to participate in their own medical care and permit the care team to monitor the animals closely.

African Fur Seals inhabit the coastlines of southwestern and southern Africa. For most of the year, the Seals live in the ocean, where they dive up to 600 feet to capture fish. Fur Seals come ashore only during the breeding season.

African Fur Seals are not threatened at this time, but other marine species are under pressure from reduced fish populations, caused when humans overharvest fish. Fur Seals are still legally hunted in Namibia for their fur and other body parts.

The L'Hoest's Monkey family group at Zoo Wrocław is maintained at the level of eight to ten individuals to prevent inbreeding and overcrowding. Over the years they’ve successfully raised ten offspring, mostly females.

The youngest addition to the Zoo’s family came into the world recently---on Christmas Day. The mother is Hermione, and the father is the dominant male, Heos. The sex of the toddler is still unknown, but the caregivers suspect it to be a female.

Photo Credits: ZOO Wroclaw

The L'Hoest's Monkey (Cercopithecus lhoesti) is one of the least common monkeys in zoological gardens in the world. Only 14 zoos have it in their collection. The species is found in the upper eastern Congo basin. They mostly live in mountainous forest areas in small, female-dominated groups.

The species is currently classified as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. However, the ongoing military conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (over 20 years already) prevents an accurate estimation of the population size in the wild. In this situation, conservation breeding in zoological gardens becomes a necessity for the survival of the species. Zoo Wrocław plays an important role in the conservation efforts.

“It is believed that the L'Hoest's Monkey’s Red List status of ‘vulnerable’ is not accurate anymore, and the population may be actually close to extinction. Even if the conflict in the Congo is over, it is hard to say what we will find there. Hence, breeding programs in zoos ensure a safe population, which will hopefully make possible the reintroduction of the species to the natural environment in the future,” said Anna Mękarska, specialist in the conservation of species from Zoo Wrocław.