The other day, we brought you news of Zoo Miami‘s Pygmy Hippo baby. Zookeepers are now asking the public to help choose between four names. “Nzuri”, which means beautiful, “Nyumbani”, meaning home, “Leona”, a reference to Sierra Leone, and “Asali”, meaning honey; a tribute to one of the Zoo’s Hippo’s which passed away last year. You can visit the zoo’s survey now and cast your vote!
Check below the fold to view more images of the calf.
Photo credits: 1, 3, and 5 by RoninRtist / 2, 4 and 6 by Ron Magill
Binder Park Zoo is proud to announce another addition to its family. On November 9, 2010, in the wee hours of the morning, a baby Red-capped Mangabeymonkey was born. This is Binder Park Zoo’s first birth of this species since it began exhibiting them in 1999 with the opening of Wild Africa. “The zoo has been working diligently with AZA (American Association of Zoos and Aquariums) for ten years to bring together a pair of animals that would have all the right attributes for a successful breeding” said Jenny Barnett, Director of Wildlife Management Conservation and Education. The mother is a 4 year old that was brought in from the Denver Zoo in late 2009, and the father, a 20 year old male, was brought in from the Houston Zoo in 2000.
Photo credits: Rebecca Bolen / Binder Park Zoo
This is the first offspring for both parents. “We were apprehensive about the success of the parents rearing the infant since they are both first time parents, however they have exceeded our expectations with their close attention and care for the baby” said Andi Kornak, the Curator of Collections.
The red-capped mangabey is a small African primate weighing between 12 and 26 lbs, females being much smaller than males. Their home range is in the western equatorial countries in Africa; Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Republic of Congo. This arboreal species can be found foraging for fruits, nuts, tender shoots, mushrooms, ants, and flowers in troops of 14-23 animals. Their original habitat and numbers have greatly decreased over the last two decades due to human encroachment and hunting. Mangabeys are hunted for the commercial bushmeat trade which is heavily reducing wild populations. It is difficult for researchers to get an accurate survey of how many are left in the wild, but they can determine that this animal that was once widespread through out its home range is now drastically disappearing from areas with heavy agricultural and hunting pressure. Binder Park Zoo currently houses four red-capped mangabey monkeys and is only one of eight zoos in North America to exhibit this unique species.
Zookeepers are keeping a close watch on the development of this baby to ensure it is ready for exhibit in Wild Africa in the spring. “Under close supervision of the mother, the baby is starting to show some independence. In fact, climbing lessons started when it was only ten days old” said Becky Bolen, one of Binder Park Zoo’s zookeepers.
The sex of the infant is still unknown as it is very difficult to determine until they are older. The mother is very protective and staff are keeping their distance for now.
One of our favorite amateur zoo photographers, Tambako the Jaguar, brings us our first pictures from Denmark’s Aalborg Zoo and they are outstanding. A three month old Amur Tiger cub, also known as a Siberian Tiger, takes some of her first adventurous steps exploring her new enclosure. The largest living cat, this majestic species once roamed from Turkey to China but is now confined to an isolated area in the Amur region of far eastern Siberia. On a side note, it looks like Aalborg also has a young Polar Bear cub. We hope to share pictures soon.
We wanted to say thanks to all you ZooBorns fans so we put together this special Advent-style calendar to ring in the New Year. Each day another door will be available for you to open! Click on the graphic to check it out.
Little Kiburi, the San Diego Zoo’snewest and devastatingly cutest little Cheetah cub made his video debut today. Typically we would just add this to the previous post about this little tyke, but it’s special enough to stand on its own.
A male White-collared Mangabeymonkey was born at Rome’s Bioparco Zoo on November 7th to mother Ashante and father Mongomo. Unfortunately, Ashante was not able to care for the new arrival and keepers discovered him clinging to his maternal grandmother Jasmine. After careful analysis of the possibility to reintegrate the tiny baby with his parents, keepers decided to begin hand rearing the infant until it becomes stable enough to join to the group. Rome’s Bioparc participates in the European Program of Captive Breeding for Endangered Species (EEP). The White-collared Mangabey is one of a list of 25 primate species most threatened with extinction in the world due to habitat destruction and poaching.
