Taronga Zoo Celebrates Elephant Birth

Taronga Zoo is celebrating the birth of a healthy Asian Elephant calf, the first born there in nearly seven years.

The male calf was born at 1:35 am on May 26 after a pregnancy that lasted approximately 22 months. Labor was short and without problems, with the calf standing five minutes after birth and nursing just before 3:00 am.

Photo Credit: Taronga Zoo

“This is fantastic news for the Australasian breeding program for Asian Elephants, as every birth helps secure a future for this endangered species,” said Cameron Kerr, Taronga CEO and Chair of the Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Elephant Committee.

Pak Boon and her calf are in good health, and the staff is pleased with the calf’s progress so far.  He weighed 186 pounds at birth.

Keepers and vets were on hand for the birth of the calf, supporting mother Pak Boon throughout the quick 35-minute labor. She delivered naturally without any assistance from the team.

“Everything went very smoothly with the birthing process and the calf has spent its first day bonding with mum in the Elephant barn. Pak Boon is doing a tremendous job and the successful birth is a tribute to the hard work of our keepers and veterinary staff,” said Kerr.

Sired by the Zoo’s bull Elephant, Gung, the calf is the second for Pak Boon, who gave birth to a female calf named Tukta in November 2010.

Taronga has now welcomed five Elephant calves since the breeding program began just over 10 years ago, with four calves born in Sydney and one born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

“This precious calf and the other Asian Elephants at Taronga play a vital role as ambassadors for their wild counterparts. They help educate visitors about the decline of wild populations due to habitat destruction and conflict with humans,” said Mr Kerr.

“The successful breeding herd has also been an important catalyst for Taronga’s work with governments and conservation agencies in Asia to turn around the decline of Asian Elephants.”

The surviving population of Asian Elephants is estimated to be between 30,000–50,000 individuals, with numbers continuing to decline due to habitat loss and poaching. Taronga supports wildlife protection units and ranger stations in Thailand and Sumatra to help prevent Elephant poaching. For keepers working closely with Taronga’s Elephant herd, this makes the calf even more precious.

“It’s an exciting time to see Pak Boon and the keeper’s hard work rewarded. It’s very special to have the new addition to the herd, who is also a cute ambassador to raise the plight of Elephants, ” said Elephant Supervisor Gabe Virgona.

Pak Boon and her calf will be given further time to bond behind-the-scenes before making their public debut. Taronga will soon be announcing a name for the calf that reflects the herd’s Thai cultural origin.

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source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2017/06/taronga-zoo-celebrates-elephant-birth-.html

"Pocket-sized" Piglets Born at Chester Zoo

Two “pocket-sized” Piglets have been born at Chester Zoo.  The tiny pair of Red River Hogs, which are as yet unsexed and unnamed, arrived on May 13 to first-time mother Mali, age 8, following a four-month-long pregnancy. 

Red River Hogs live in swamps and forests in western and central Africa and are said to be the most colorful member of the Pig family. They are also the smallest of all African pigs. 

Photo Credit: Chester Zoo

Sarah Roffe, team manager, said, “We’re ever so pleased with our delightful duo and mum Mali is so far doing a fantastic job of caring for them. They’re only pocket-sized Piglets at the moment but they’re already full of personality and have bundles of energy.”

The Piglets will sport the spotted and striped coats of juveniles until they’re about six months old. At that time, they’ll take on the distinctive rusty coloring of adults.

Once common in their range, Red River Hogs are declining in some areas due to overhunting for their meat.

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source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2017/06/pocket-sized-piglets-born-at-chester-zoo.html

They Call It “Puppy” Love

Five Prairie Dog pups recently emerged from their burrows at their exhibit located in Franklin Park Zoo’s ‘Nature’s Neighborhoods’, the new George Robert White Fund Children’s Zoo.

The pups’ birth date is estimated to have been around April 1. Prairie Dog pups are born blind and hairless, and do not make an appearance outside of the burrow until they are about six weeks old. The pups can now be seen exploring the exhibit alongside the adult Prairie Dogs.

“It’s hard not to be amazed by these incredible little creatures. Prairie Dogs are highly social animals, and it will be fascinating for our guests to watch the pups grow up,” said John Linehan, Zoo New England President and CEO.

Photo Credits: Zoo New England / Franklin Park Zoo

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are not actually dogs at all. They are small, stout, tan rodents with a lightly white or buff-white belly. They have short black tails, small ears, dark eyes and long claws used for digging.

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs are found in short-grass prairie habitats of western North America, from southern Saskatchewan down to northern Mexico. They form complex, widespread underground burrow systems, and avoid areas of heavy brush or tall grass due to reduced visibility.

They live in what are called “towns” or colonies. These colonies are further divided into territorial neighborhoods called wards. Within the wards are coteries, which are family groups comprised of a male, one to four females and offspring that are under two years old. They do not hibernate and can be seen emerging from burrows in mid-winter.

Their towns are known to be quite expansive, and they are considered to be pests by ranchers (burrow entrances become hazardous to livestock). In 1901, scientists in Texas reported finding a Black-tailed Prairie Dog town that allegedly covered about 25,000 sq mi (64,000 km2) and included 400,000,000 individual residents.

The species is currently classified as “Least Concern” by the IUCN. Prior to habitat destruction, this species may have been the most abundant Prairie Dog in central North America.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2017/06/they-call-it-puppy-love.html

Endangered Rhino Wins Hearts at Saint Louis Zoo

A male Black Rhinoceros calf was born at the Saint Louis Zoo on May 17. The calf has been named Moyo (“heart” in Swahili). He is the second offspring for mother, Kati Rain, and father, Ajabu.

According to keepers, the little male is nursing well and being cared for by his mother. The pair has been bonding in their barn behind the scenes in their River’s Edge exhibit. A date has not yet been set for their public debut.

This is the second Black Rhino to be born at the Zoo in 26 years and only the tenth in

Saint Louis Zoo’s history. Moyo’s older brother, named Ruka, was born in 2011. In the summer of 2015, Ruka moved to the Oregon Zoo to pair with a compatible female there, as recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Black Rhino Species Survival Plan (SSP).

Kati Rain and Ajabu arrived at the Zoo’s River’s Edge in 2007. Kati Rain is from Sedgwick County Zoo, and Ajabu is from San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Both are 13 years old.

Photo Credits: Saint Louis Zoo/ Images 1 & 2: Elizabeth Irwin / Image 3: Kathryn Pilgram-Kloppe  

The Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), also known as the Hook-lipped Rhinoceros, is a species native to eastern and southern Africa including Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Although it is referred to as “black”, its colors vary from brown to grey.

The critically endangered Black Rhino has experienced the most drastic decline of any of the five surviving Rhino species. Between 1970 and 1992, the Black Rhino population in Africa dropped by 96 percent. By 1993, only 2,300 individuals survived in the wild.

Black Rhinos are being pushed to the brink of extinction by illegal poaching for their horns, and to a lesser extent by loss of habitat. The horn is falsely believed to be medicine in many Asian cultures. Because of conservationists’ intensive anti-poaching efforts in the 1990s and 2000s, the number of Black Rhinos in the wild began increasing slowly.

The species overall is classified as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN, and three subspecies, including the Western Black Rhinoceros, were declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2011.

Current estimates show 5,055 individual Black Rhinos are alive in the wild. The Saint Louis Zoo’s Black Rhinos are part of the AZA Black Rhino SSP, a program to manage a genetically healthy population of Black Rhinos in North American zoos.

With the addition of Moyo, there are currently 60 Eastern Black Rhinos in 26 AZA institutions. The Saint Louis Zoo's WildCare Institute Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa supports the Sera Rhino Sanctuary in northern Kenya in partnership with the Northern Rangelands Trust. Additionally, the Zoo’s WildCare Institute supports the Stop Poaching Now program through the International Rhino Foundation.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2017/06/endangered-rhino-wins-hearts-at-saint-louis-zoo.html