Sixth Southern White Rhino Birth at ZooTampa

Celebrations are taking place at ZooTampa at Lowry Park’s Southern White Rhinoceros’ habitat. Mother Alake gave birth to a calf on September 12, marking the sixth successful Southern White Rhino birth and ninth Rhino in the Zoo’s history.

After bonding with mom, the calf will be introduced to the rest of the herd. As the herd grows, animal care professionals continue to deliver high-quality care for the Rhinos’ physical health and well-being.

“ZooTampa is deeply committed to the species’ continued survival, both at home and beyond. “Every birth brings hope to the continued conservation of this incredible species.” said Chris Massaro, General Curator at ZooTampa.

The Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Rhino Taxon Advisory Group (TAG), which includes the Southern White Rhino Species Survival Plan (SSP). Over the past 20 years, ZooTampa has contributed $100,000 to conservation projects, such as anti-poaching and habitat repair and restoration efforts in Africa.

Photo Credits: Matt Marriott /ZooTampa

The majority of Southern White Rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) live in just four countries in Africa: Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Their unique body is characterized by a pronounced hump and two horns at the ends of its muzzle, used to defend against its predators and establish social dominance.

This birth is a welcome addition to the population of wildlife that relies on human care. Record numbers of rhinos have been killed by poachers due to the high demand for keratin, a protein found in rhino horn that is believed to have medicinal properties.

The Northern White Rhino (a relative of the Southern White Rhino) has been considered extinct in the wild, with only two remaining in professional care.

This Rhino birth continues ZooTampa's baby boom which last month saw the birth of a rare, endangered okapi. Guests may catch a glimpse of the adorable Rhino calf on the Zoo’s safari tram ride, included with daily admission. To get an even closer look, guests can also add on a White Rhino encounter starting at $10.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/sixth-southern-white-rhino-birth-at-zootampa.html

Toronto Zoo’s Pygmy Hippo Calf Needs a Name

The Toronto Zoo’s endangered Pygmy Hippopotamus calf made her public debut on September 19 in the Zoo’s African Rainforest Pavilion!

Twelve-year-old mom, Kindia, gave birth to the female calf on August 10. The pair will be on exhibit daily from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. However, this schedule is subject to change as there may be times when she is brought inside the Pygmy Hippo Maternity Area for feeding and to enable our Veterinary and Wildlife Care teams to closely monitor her progress.

The Toronto Zoo launched their “Name Our Pygmy Hippopotamus Calf” promotion on Friday, September 21, 2018! The Zoo is asking the public to vote for their favourite name from a group of four names that have been thoughtfully selected by her Wildlife Care keeping staff.

You can cast your vote here: https://woobox.com/rhd5qk Voting ends Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 11:59 pm, and the name receiving the most votes will be announced as the winner on Thursday, October 4, 2018.

Please cast your vote here: https://woobox.com/rhd5qk   / Photo Credits: Toronto Zoo

The Toronto Zoo is celebrating this recent birth as very important for Pygmy Hippopotamus conservation. The species (Choeropsis liberiensis) is currently listed as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and there are approximately only 2,000 to 3,000 left in the wild in West Africa, with Liberia having the majority of the population. Small numbers are also found in the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. Over the past 100 years, the Pygmy Hippo’s habitat has declined dramatically as a result of logging, farming and human settlement. As deforestation continues and their habitat becomes more fragmented, newly accessible populations are coming under increasing pressure from hunters.

The Toronto Zoo is part of the Pygmy Hippopotamus Species Survival Plan (SSP), which aims to establish and maintain a healthy, genetically diverse population, and overall conservation efforts to save this incredible species. One of the Toronto Zoo's mandates is to educate visitors on current conservation issues and help preserve the incredible biodiversity on the planet.

The Toronto Zoo is in a great position to bring forward the plight of the Pygmy Hippopotamus and supports Hippopotamus conservation efforts in the wild through keeper awareness events and the Toronto Zoo Endangered Species Reserve Fund.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/toronto-zoos-pygmy-hippo-calf-needs-a-name.html

Red Panda Brothers Born at Rosamond Gifford Zoo

Twin Red Panda cubs were born June 21 at Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The two healthy male cubs were born to the Zoo’s resident breeding pair: mother, Tabei, and father, Ketu.

The cubs are currently being hand-raised by keepers. Zoo Director, Ted Fox, shared that Tabei demonstrated some initial difficulty in caring for them on her own. Keepers are providing bottle-feeds every four hours and monitoring the cubs’ intake and weights.

Keepers have named the cubs ‘Loofah’ and ‘Doofah’, from the film, “The Land Before Time” (also a nod to the Zoo’s summer-long Dinosaur Invasion exhibit).

Photo Credits: Rosamond Gifford Zoo

Red Pandas are an endangered species, with fewer than 10,000 estimated remaining in the wild in the Himalayan Mountains. They are called pandas because, like the Giant Pandas of China, they eat primarily bamboo. The word “panda” comes from a Nepali word meaning “bamboo eater.”

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is involved in increasing the Red Panda population through the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Red Pandas overseen by its accrediting organization, the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). The Red Panda SSP works to pair unrelated animals from a diverse gene pool in the interest of producing healthy offspring for survival of the species.

Onondaga County Executive, Joanie Mahoney, praised the Zoo for its success in breeding these endangered animals: “Having recently celebrated National Zookeeper Week, we can say that we are very proud of our Zoo staff and we appreciate their dedication and hard work on behalf of all the animals in their care.”

The new cubs are Tabei’s third set of offspring since 2015. Her first cubs, males Rohan and Pumori, went on to start their own families at the Central Park Zoo and the Erie Zoo. Ravi and Amaya, a male and female born in 2016, are now at the Detroit Zoo and the Sacramento Zoo respectively.

The new cubs will continue to be hand-fed and monitored by zookeepers while being kept in an isolette in the Zoo’s Veterinary Clinic. As they get larger, they will be moved to the glass-enclosed room off the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s upper lobby. According to keepers, they should be ready to move to the Red Panda habitat on the zoo’s Wildlife Trail later this year.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/red-panda-brothers-born-at-rosamond-gifford-zoo.html

Endangered Tree Kangaroo Joey Emerges in Australia

Healesville Sanctuary, in Victoria, Australia, is celebrating the birth of an endangered Goodfellow’s Tree-kangaroo - the first ever to be born at the Sanctuary.

New mum, Mani, and her breeding partner, Bagam, were successfully paired at the beginning of 2016. Earlier this year, after a routine pouch check, keepers discovered Mani had a tiny joey, the size of a jellybean, growing in her pouch.

The joey spent six months inside its mum’s pouch before tentatively popping its head out for the first time on a recent chilly winter’s morning. Over the coming months, the youngster will continue to venture out of the pouch more and more. It will become more independent as it learns from mum and dad.

Photo Credits: Zoos Victoria /Healesville Sanctuary

Tree-kangaroos are threatened in the wild by hunting and habitat loss. In response, Zoos Victoria has extended its fighting extinction work across borders, partnering with organizations across the globe on the Tree-kangaroo Conservation Program to save species from extinction.

Tree-kangaroos are part of the macropod family and are closely related to their ground-dwelling counterparts, such as Wallabies and Kangaroos.

Tree-kangaroos are well adapted to the treetop lifestyle – they are agile climbers and can be clumsy on the ground. Tree-kangaroos live in rainforests across Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and far-north Queensland. There are 14 species of Tree-kangaroo, most are incredibly rare and populations are in decline.

Mani, Bagam, and now their little joey, are ambassadors for their wild cousins, helping to connect people to animals they may well never see in the wild. Just in time for the school holidays, Healesville Sanctuary visitors are able to see the adorable trio on display in the Kangaroo Country exhibit.

For more information about the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program, visit: https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/international-programs-and-grants/tree-kangaroo-conservation-program  

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/endangered-tree-kangaroo-joey-emerges-in-australia-.html

First Video of Rare Amur Leopard Cubs

Motion-sensitive cameras hidden in a unique breeding area at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park revealed that two Amur Leopard cubs have emerged from their den.

The park announced July that Amur Leopard Arina had given birth. However, with human presence being kept to a minimum in the Leopard habitat, the number of cubs born was unknown.

Photo Credit: RZSS Highland Wildlife Park

The cubs emerged from a den located deep within undergrowth in a remote section of the park, which is not accessible to visitors. This strategy of keeping human contact to a minimum makes the cubs good candidates for reintroduction to the wild – part of a desperate attempt to save these rare Cats from extinction.  Fewer than 70 of these Critically Endangered animals remain in the Russian Far East.

Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at the park, said, “Our Amur Leopard habitat is the only one within the zoo community which has been designed to breed these extremely rare Cats with the aim of producing cubs that are eligible for reintroduction to the wild.” This ensures the cubs will retain their wild instincts and behavior.

“While this would be incredibly complex, it would also be a world first and a huge step forward in the conservation of this critically endangered Cat,” Richardson said.

Freddo, the cubs' father, came from Tallin Zoo in Estonia, while Arina was born at Twycross Zoo. Both Leopards arrived at the park in 2016.

Although progress has been made in recent years, habitat loss, poaching and conflict with humans remain threats to the Amur Leopard.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is working with partners, including ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and conservation authorities in Russia. It is hoped that cubs born at Highland Wildlife Park can be released into a region northeast of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, part of the Amur Leopard’s historic wild range.

“One of the key factors in deciding the next steps will be determining the sex of the cubs, which we expect to find out during initial health checks over the next few weeks,” said Richardson.

“If the cubs are the same sex, ideally female, then there is a good possibility both may be candidates for reintroduction, while if we have a brother and sister then only one would be eligible to avoid them breeding together,” Richardson said.

“Although there are no guarantees of success and we are reliant on international partners, reintroducing at least one of our cubs to the wild may be possible in the next two to three years. This would need to be a phased approach, with young Leopards spending some time acclimatizing and sharpening their survival skills in a contained, naturalistic environment within the proposed location of Lazovsky Zapovednik, before being released and monitored,” said Richardson.

The cubs, now three months old, will be named when their sex is known.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/first-video-of-rare-amur-leopard-cubs.html

Red Panda Cubs Start to Explore

Twin Red Panda cubs at Woodland Park Zoo have reached another milestone: stepping outside of their den and exploring their bedroom! The sisters, named Zeya (ZAY-uh) and Ila (EE-la), were born June 19 to mom Hazel and dad Yukiko and are the first successful birth of Red Pandas at the zoo in 29 years.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

ZooBorns previously shared photos of the cubs’ neonatal exam and the announcement of their names.
 
The 2½-month-old cubs, which currently weigh 4 pounds each, and Hazel have been living off public view in an indoor, climate-controlled space where the first-time mom can nurse and bond with her cubs in a quiet environment. A camera in the den has allowed animal care staff to monitor the family to ensure the cubs are thriving and mom is providing appropriate care; human contact has been minimal except for neonatal exams as part of the zoo’s exemplary animal welfare program.
 
During quick wellness checks on the new family, the animal keepers caught the first sightings of the cubs venturing outside of the den and exploring the bedroom. “This is very exciting to see our cubs beginning to explore outside of their den. We can’t confirm how much time they’re spending in the bedroom, but we suspect they’re most active outside the den during nighttime,” said Mark Myers, a curator at Woodland Park Zoo. “This indicates they’re meeting important milestones in their development by increasing their mobility skills, curiosity and navigation within their surroundings. These skills will serve them well when they are introduced to the outdoor exhibit.”
 
The zoo anticipates putting Hazel, Zeya and Ila in the outdoor public exhibit by mid-October/November. Guests visiting the zoo can see the zoo’s other Red Panda, a 4-year-old male named Carson, in the Wildlife Survival Zone

Red Pandas share the name of Giant Pandas, but more closely resemble Raccoons. Recent studies suggest they are closely related to Skunks, Weasels and Raccoons. An Endangered species, fewer than 10,000 Red Pandas remain in their native habitat of bamboo forests in China, the Himalayas and Myanmar, and share part of their range with Giant Pandas. Their numbers are declining due to deforestation, increased agriculture and cattle grazing, and continuing pressure from growing local populations.

source http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2018/09/red-panda-cubs-start-to-explore.html