The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

Baby Alpaca Takes Wobbly First Steps at Children’s Zoo

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A baby alpaca—also called a cria— was born on the morning of October 16 at The Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square in Michigan. The little boy, named Cypress, was standing on his own wobbly legs just two hours after birth. He started walking and nursing with a little bit of encouragement from a keeper. 

Lily, his mother, is doing very well after the birth and is naturally very caring and nurturing. (She is the white alpaca in the pictures.) Cypress' one-year-old sister, Rose, was immediately jealous and kept nosing her way into all of his photos. But it didn't take too before she seemed to be more accepting of sharing the limelight and played nice on camera, even planting big kiss on her baby brother's face. 

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6 alpacaPhoto credits: Children's Zoo

See a video of Cyprus' first steps:

 

See more photos of the alpaca family after the fold.


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6 responses to “Baby Alpaca Takes Wobbly First Steps at Children’s Zoo”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    “… she seemed to be more excepting of sharing the limelight a …”
    should be more ACCEPTING 😉

    Reply
  2. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    What a handsome family

    Reply
  3. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    I’m fascinated by how different the baby’s back legs look compared to the mother and sister. The adults’ rear legs are essentially straight up and down. The baby’s middle section (what would be the shin on a human) is almost horizontal. If he straightened his back legs out the way the adults do, it seems like they’d be much longer than his front legs and his bottom would be stuck way up in the air, though I may be exaggerating that effect.
    I speculate that it’s easier to walk with the back legs that shape (but less efficient or not as good for speed or some other characteristic) so the babies are evolved to have legs that shape when they are learning to walk, and as they grow the back legs shorten (relative to the front ones; don’t grow as much) and straighten out. But wow, is that ever a big guess.

    Reply
  4. Blue Footed Booby Avatar
    Blue Footed Booby

    Either that or it’s a matter of how well they fold up in the womb.

    Reply
  5. mo Avatar
    mo

    So cute!

    Reply
  6. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    Actually, a lot of babies of prey animals are born with disproportionately long legs–that way, when predators attack, they can keep up with the bolting herd! Much harder to do with stumpy baby legs. It’s the same reason many of these babies can walk within a few hours of birth, as opposed to carnivores who get plenty of time to relax and ease into life (say, puppies that take a few weeks to even open their eyes, let alone walk).

    Reply

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