Introducing this year's Zoo Babies

Every May, oohs and ahhs emanate from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Chalk it up to Zoo Babies, the park’s month-long celebration of newborns, now in its 26th year. With several births imminent, including a Grevy’s zebra, about two dozen species could be featured this spring, from insects to a Bactrian camel born April 23.

More than a means of drawing big crowds, the event dovetails with the zoo’s mission of protecting the planet.

“We want to target kids and families, because if we can engage them and get our message out a little better, it’s not a passive visit anymore,” says David Oehler, the zoo’s director of animal collections.

Captive populations help focus people’s attention on animals in the wild, many of which are threatened by habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, hunting and poaching.

“We hope to make that connection, so that people have empathy for these animals,” Oehler says.

And that, he says, can lead people to take earth-saving measures. It can be as simple as deciding to recycle. “Or if they want to get more involved, we’ve got all kinds of conservation programs they can help with.”

A look at some of this year’s Zoo Babies:

Garnett’s galago (also known as greater bushbaby)

Babies: Twins (sex not known) born at the zoo March 3.

Native of: East Africa, sub-Saharan Africa.

Fun facts: These nocturnal primates walk, run and leap through trees, marking their routes with urine, which allows them to jump onto the same branches each time they leave the nest. Cincinnati is one of two U.S. zoos with a successfully breeding female.

Barn owl

Baby: Hatched Feb. 16 at World Bird Sanctuary, St. Louis.

Native of: Every continent except Antarctica.

Fun facts: This nocturnal raptor has excellent night vision but also can locate prey by sound. Eyes are in a fixed position, so it must turn its whole head to see to the side or back. So-named because of its preference for roosting in barns.

Bactrian camel

Baby: A male born at the zoo April 23.

Native of: Remote deserts of Mongolia and China.

Fun facts: A Bactrian camel has two humps; its relative, the dromedary camel, has one. The calf, the first camel born at the zoo since 1983, will begin to develop its humps, which store fat, in about a year. The species is critically endangered.

African hedgehog

Babies: Two males and two females born at the zoo Feb. 4.

Native of: Western, central and eastern Africa.

Fun facts: When threatened, it curls into a ball with its short, sharp quills sticking out every which way. It’s nocturnal, and can cover several miles at night while looking for food. In one night, it can eat nearly one-third its body weight.

Bat-eared fox

Babies: Two females and one male born at the zoo April 9.

Native of: Eastern and southern Africa.

Fun facts: Its name comes from its large ears, which allow it to listen for and locate its favorite food – termites. It’s nocturnal in summer, and active during the day in winter.

Malayan leaf katydid

Babies: About 40 born this year.

Native of: Tropical rain forest of Malaysia.

Fun facts: Its exoskeleton doesn’t grow, so the insect molts six times over its lifespan to get to its maximum length of about 6 inches. At night, males rub their wing edges together, producing a loud, high-pitched sound to entice females.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog