West Palm Beach – On Saturday, 12/31/2022, Lion Country Safari welcomed a second giraffe calf to its herd, just days after the first giraffe birth. The newest baby, a 161-pound (73.2kg), 6.1-foot-tall (1.9m) male, is the 18th member of the park’s giraffe herd, one of the largest in the country. Both calves are spending quality time bonding with their moms in adjacent maternity areas and are visible to guests from the road in the last section of the safari.
“Little spots and little purrs… mother nature has blessed us this Christmas!
During the month of October, Sansa, our 5-year-old cheetah, gave birth to 5 perfect little bundles of fur at our facility’s private reserve which forms part of our Cheetah Preservation Foundation non-profit organisation.
We have many reasons to celebrate their birth, with their lineage being paramount. Not only do the cubs contribute to helping the world better understand their species, but their strong and genetically diverse bloodlines make a valuable contribution to the ex-situ population management of the species. Since the inception of the Cheetah Preservation Foundation, our cheetahs have contributed significant data to the global pool of healthy cheetah management practices, research, and education. Due to the growing success of the species global management, and the valuable research conducted, the current population in human care is at its most balanced and genetically diverse in history. Our role, based on our many years of expertise, along with other like-minded facilities, is to ensure that this populace is strategically maintained. At this point, the genetic variability between any two captive cheetahs and any two wild cheetahs are in fact very similar! This is a massive accomplishment, made possible by the many years of hard work by dedicated programs such as ours. Should there ever be collapse in wild populations, almost certainly due to human/wildlife conflict, captive centres will be able to bolster wild populations to secure the species for future generations.
Classified as vulnerable, with an estimated wild population dwindling below 7100, this species is running a gruelling race for survival due to the pressures of climate change, hunting/poaching, and habitat destruction. Cheetahs have a low reproductive success rate, and with fewer offspring, the population can neither grow nor adapt to the volatile changes occurring in their human encroached wild environments."
The first ever critically-endangered Sumatran Tiger cubs to be born at Adelaide Zoo have arrived safe, sound and extremely snuggly in the Year of the Tiger.
“There’s a whole puddle of stripy little legs, arms and tails in the cubbing den at the moment. It’s the best gift ever,” said an elated Elaine Bensted, CE of Zoos SA.
“This is a significant moment in conservation as the Sumatran Tiger species has less than 400 adults surviving in the wild.
“Delilah and Kembali’s cubs are vital to ensuring strong genetics in the breeding program and indeed the future of the species.
Oh brother! No matter the species, siblings always find a way to play – Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s #EleTwins are no exception! As the twins grow we continue to see their personalities develop. Twin two, Tukada, is proving to be the more dominant sibling, usually ending up on top when he and twin one, Yaad, start wrestling. Considering Tukada was the weaker twin at birth we are so happy to see him thriving and playing with his brother.
Taronga Zoo is delighted to announce the recent emergence of an adorable koala joey. The joey is estimated to be approximately eight months old and has been named Sky as a tribute to the joeys father Thunder.
The joey, which has recently been identified as a male was born to experienced mum Wattle. This is now Wattle's third joey and the second joey to emerge this breeding season as part of Taronga's Koala breeding program.
A critically endangered black rhino or eastern two-horned rhino was born behind the scenes at Safari Park Dvur Králové in Czech Republic. It’s the first birth for mom Molly, but she is taking good care of her young female calf. The Safari Park is a world power in the breeding of these animals and has already taken several animals back to Africa.