London Zoo‘s first-time mother Mjukuu gave birth to the healthy baby gorilla on the afternoon of October 26th, following a straightforward labour, which was closely monitored by the Zoo’s vets and keepers. Zoological director David Field said: “Mother and baby are both doing brilliantly, although it’s still early days. ‘Aunties’ Zaire and Effie were at the birth and have remained with Mjukuu throughout.” Staff at ZSL London Zoo will now begin the sensitive process of introducing the newborn to his stepfather Kesho. Introducing the baby to Kesho is not without its risks, however staff are making every effort to assist a smooth introduction and hopefully ensure the gorillas form a cohesive family group.
As huge fans of Firefoxes (aka Red Pandas) and Firefox, Mozilla’s web browser, we were thrilled to see the two come together for some long overdue corporate / furry synergy. The cubs, born to mom Akkali and father Chewbacca, arrived at the Knoxville Zoo in June and we covered them when their eyes were barely open. Now almost six months old, the cubs are exhibiting the trademark playfulness of their age and the world can watch thanks to Mozilla’s sponsorship of a bazillion live cub cams. Additionally, the joint Mozilla / Knoxville Zoo site provides links to adopt a Red Panda (surely a great holiday gift), name the cubs, and watch highlight videos. We have included the “trailer” vids below. Hopefully we will have more to share in the near future. You can follow the latest updates direct from the “Cub Keeper” on Twitter.
Photo and video credits: Knoxville Zoo
From the Knoxville Zoo Red Panda site – Found in the Himalayan foothills of China, Nepal and India, red pandas favor remote, high altitude bamboo forests. Unfortunately, their fragile habitat is being destroyed by logging and human expansion, and their distinctive red fur makes them prey for hunters. As a result, red pandas are endangered, and their future in the wild is uncertain.
Kiburi, The San Diego Zoo’s Cheetahbaby is as charismatic as ever. These photos, taken this weekend by ysaleth, show the little guy napping, drinking from a bottle, and yelping at adoring visitors to the Safari Park nursery.
Bird keepers at the UK’s Dudley Zoological Gardens celebrated the royal engagement by naming two rare babypenguins after William and Kate. Humboldt Penguins live on South America’s rocky Pacific coastswhere they burrow homes within mountains of accumulated guano (but we’re confident the Zoo meant no disrespect!). Vulnerable to extinction in the wild due to over-fishing and ocean acidification, Humboldt Penguins are protected by the US Endangered Species Act. Dudley Zoo’s colony of 60 Humboldt Penguins is the UK’s largest.
By royal appointment: Dudley Zoological Gardens Keeper Sam Grove with the rare Humboldt chicks born this week staff at the Midlands tourist attraction have named William and Kate.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo today debuted the first babyAardvark ever born at the zoo. The new male Aardvark, nicknamed Hoover, was born in September to parents Dora and Arthur. Hoover spends all of his time with his mother and will continue to nurse until he is three months old. Zoo-goers can see the Aardvarks in their naturalistic nocturnal exhibit in the Carter Giraffe Building. The Bronx Zoo was the first North American zoo to exhibit Aardvarks in 1924. The zoo’s current Aardvark exhibit opened in 2008.
“The Bronx Zoo has exhibited aardvarks several times during its long history, but they are notoriously difficult animals to breed and rear and we have never had a baby at the zoo until now,” said Jim Breheny, WCS Senior Vice President and Director of the Bronx Zoo. “Aardvarks are so different from any other species; it is really amazing to have the opportunity to watch a calf develop and mature from birth.”
Aardvarks are completely nocturnal and found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. They occur in scrub, open woodland, and particularly in heavily grazed grasslands where there are lots of termites. In the wild, aardvarks are powerful diggers and spend the majority of daylight hours in burrows.
The aardvark exhibit at WCS’s Bronx Zoo replicates the species’ native African habitat. It includes termite mounds and sandy groundcover to allow the animals to burrow and dig. The exhibit lighting is similar to moonlight to make it easy to watch the nocturnal behavior of the animals.
The name aardvark translates to “earth pig” in Afrikaans. They are also commonly referred to as ant bears. The aardvark has the distinction of being the only member of the family Tubulidentata, which means “tube teeth.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s conservation field staff is on the ground working to protect wildlife and wild lands across the aardvark’s African range and around the world. WCS collaborates with local governments, organizations, and local communities to build constituencies that support conservation of important species and habitats.
**The aardvark calf will be on exhibit with his mother all day Friday, Dec. 3 – Sunday, Dec. 5. He and his mother will then rotate his exhibit times with the adult male aardvark until further notice.
Giant Panda mom, Lun-Lun, gave birth to a tiny pink cub on November 3rd at Zoo Atlanta. At that time, the cub was hairless and helpless, like all panda cubs at that age. One month later, the cub is hairy but still helpless as we see in this special behind-the-scenes veterinary check-up video below. Heather Baker Roberts, Carnivore Keeper II, gave a detailed update yesterday on the Zoo’s panda blog. “The cub is becoming more active each day. When Lun Lun leaves him alone, he wiggles and exercises his muscles. He works one back leg as if to scratch himself or he manages to turn himself around on the floor.
(continued from above “Most importantly, he can right himself when he ends up on his back. Just last week, if he accidentally rolled onto his back while Lun Lun was away, he was very unhappy – flailing his legs in the air and squawking loudly until Lun Lun rushed back and picked him up. He was like a stranded tortoise! But now he has developed enough muscle strength to roll himself over onto his stomach fairly quickly when he is supine. I am actually surprised he can roll over at all since his belly is so fat, but I have seen him do it several times in recent days. This is a big step for the little guy!”
