Zoo Welcomes Trio of Cubs
Peekaboo! Can you spot the clouded leopard cubs triplets in this pile of animals?
Meet the playful babiesZoo Babies (143)
The spectacled owlet’s parents have raised six chicks at the Phoenix Zoo, but because both Mom and Dad are older, their keepers weren’t sure their eggs would still be fertile.
But on Feb. 10, the one egg belonging to a 20-year-old mom and her 15-year-old mate hatched, and keepers could hear tiny noises coming from the nest box.
They didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the little white ball of fluff until late in March because its protective parents would fly at their keepers’ heads — talons extended — if they even tried to clean their display.
The wide-eyed chick was spotted sitting in the opening to its nest box on April 13, and the next day it fledged, trying out different perches in the exhibit.
Spectacled owls are native to Mexico, Central and South America. The owlet’s gender is still unknown, but will be determined at its first official exam.
Linton Zoo
Once affectionately dubbed ALF (for Alien Life Form) by keepers at the U.K.’s Linton Zoo, a rare albino red-necked wallaby has blossomed into a beauty.
Lacking pigment, the joey, whom we caught a glimpse of in Mom’s pouch in March, has all white fur and pink eyes.
Now the baby is almost as big as mom Kylie — but still tries to squeeze into her pouch for some snuggle time.
Red-necked wallabies are usually gray and brown, like Kylie and dad Jason.
Jamie Delk / Woodland Park Zoo
The male cub, center, will get his name from his dad on Friday.
A new dad in Seattle will get a special treat for Father’s Day: the chance to name his firstborn son in a ceremony that involves all of his favorite foods.
The 14-year-old jaguar, named Junior, became dad to a trio of cubs at the Woodland Park Zoo in March. The two girls and one boy were born to mom Nayla, 7.
On Friday, Junior will choose Cruz, Tlaloc or Kuwan for his son’s name. The monikers, selected by zookeepers, will be paired with piñatas filled with his favorite meats: chicken and ground turkey.
Andrea Dougall, Oakland Zoo
At 3 months old, the Oakland Zoo’s trio of male river otters is thriving — in terms of both their health and their swimming skills.
In early May, the three each weighed about 4.5 pounds, thanks to mom Ginger’s off-exhibit care of her sons.
The babies are named Kohana (swift), Hinto (blue) and Shilah (brother).
"This is the third litter that Ginger has had here at Oakland Zoo, and she is a great mom, so we will be as hands-off as possible and let her do her job," said keeper Andrea Dougall.
Now that the pups are strong-enough swimmers, they’re appearing daily in their exhibit.
Peekaboo! Can you spot the clouded leopard cubs in this pile of animals?
At 7 weeks, the cubs got to go outside for the first time at the Nashville Zoo. While they were out there, they were surprised with stuffed animals donated by friends of the zoo. And they weren’t shy about jumping right in to play with them.
There’s a new member of the flamingo flock at Miami’s Jungle Island — and the little one needs a name.
The park is asking fans to email their ideas to contest@jungleisland.com by June 3. Just be sure to keep them unisex because they don’t know the baby’s gender yet!
The fuzzy white chick hatched on May 24 and is already out on exhibit with the adult flamingos, who tower over the tiny new addition.
The contest winner not only gets to name the chick, but get tickets for four to the park and another four tickets to a Miami Marlins game.
National Aviary
Well, hello there, bright eyes!
A Eurasian eagle owl hatched at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 13 — the first of her kind to hatch in an Association of Zoos and Aquariums facility in five years.
The baby bird is thriving, doubling in size in just five days. And she’s already losing some of her downy feathers to look more like an adult.
The hand-reared owlet’s parents are education birds who are trained to fly free during shows and perch on a glove, and this little one will follow in their footsteps.
“She’s been doing well in her first public interactions,” says Cathy Schlott, manager of animal training at the National Aviary. “Her visitors love seeing her up close, and she’s well on her way to being a great education bird.”
Berlin Zoo
They may be small now, but within a year, these three emu chicks will stand at a whopping 5 to 6 feet tall!
Hatched at the Berlin Zoo, the 3-month-old babies are ready to earn their stripes — with Dad at their side. Interestingly, an emu mom lays and incubates the eggs, but her job with the little ones stops there. All of the other duties of raising the chicks go to dad, reports Zooborns.
Native to Australia, the emu is the second-largest bird in the world, behind the ostrich.
We adore the striped look they’re sporting now, but the chicks will turn almost entirely black before their feathers eventually change to a mix of tan, brown and black.
Berlin Zoo
Two of the chicks go for a walk with Dad.
Woodland Park Zoo
There’s nothing sloth-y about the twin sloth bear cubs who were born at the Woodland Park Zoo in December.
“The curious explorers climb, jump and attempt daredevil leaps,” says Pat Owen, a collection manager at the zoo.
With a name like sloth bear, we were expecting him to say something like, “The quiet creatures sleep, sleep and… sleep."
Boy, were we wrong.
When the adorable duo explored their exhibit for the first time, their natural climbing instincts took over and they started scaling the logs in their habitat.
In all fairness, they did have a bit of a lazy streak. They spent the first two months of their lives clinging to their mom’s back. But, hey, they’re babies. Who can blame them?
Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Sorry, all other species names. Thanks for playing, but you've been beat. These are babydoll lambs.
The Prospect Park Zoo, part of the Wildlife Conservation Society system in New York, recently welcomed a brother and sister pair to its babydoll lamb family. Arthur and Brooklyn were born to mother Ginger last month, and are growing a little every day.
Arthur, who weighed eight pounds at birth, will grow to be about 175 pounds. Brooklyn was only six pounds when she was born, but her expected adult size is 120 pounds.
WCS says the babydoll lamb, also called the miniature Southdown, is the oldest known purebred sheep in the world.
