ZooBorns

White Rhino Baby Big Bundle of Joy for Singapore Zoo

Singapore Zoo recently celebrated the birth of its thirteenth White Rhino -- an adorable and curious youngster. Aptly named Jumaane (which means born on Tuesday), he arrived on Tuesday, April 10, weighing approximately 155 pounds (70kg) at birth -- undoubtedly one of the biggest babies the Zoo has welcomed to date. He can be seen running or rolling around in the mud in his spacious exhibit at the Wild Africa region. Mom Shova is always close by, keeping a watchful eye.

White Rhinos are considered near threatened in the wild on the IUCN’s* Red List of Threatened species. Together with the Indian Rhino, it is the largest species of land mammal after the elephant. They are hunted for their horns, which some believe to have medicinal properties. In fact, the horns are actually made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails, and there has been no scientific evidence to suggest that they are a cure for any condition.

Singapore Zoo currently has eight of these majestic creatures in its collection, and boasts the most number of White Rhinos bred in a single zoo in Southeast Asia. Of the 13 babies born there, some have been sent to Indonesia, Australia, Thailand and Korea as part of the Zoo’s ex-situ conservation efforts through its worldwide exchange program.

Photo Credit: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Rare Clouded Leopard Birth at Singapore Night Safari

Barely a year since its first successful birth of Clouded Leopards, Night Safari recently welcomed another litter of cubs. The three cubs that arrived on 14 April 2012 were born to parents Tawan and Wandee, who had their first litter in May last year. Clouded Leopards are among the world’s rarest and most secretive wild cat species.

Named for the cloud-like patterns of their coats, which help them disappear into the shadows of the forest, Clouded Leopards are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. This second birth is a result of a planned breeding program, which saw the introduction of Tawan and Wandee at an early age to promote bonding and minimise aggression. The mating pair arrived from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo three years ago.

It's a Bear! It's a Cat! It's Neither!

Despite having a body like a small bear and a face similar to a cat, the secretive Bearcat is actually a member of the civet family, more closely related to Mongooses and Meerkats (and true civets of course). These baby Bearcats, also known as Binturongs, were born at the Wildlife Reserves Singapore's Night Safari on January 26.

Found primarily in the rainforest treetops of South and Southeast Asia, Bearcats have a mixed diet of fruits, leaves, birds, fish and eggs. Extremely rare among carnivores, this speices has a fully prehensile tail. The meaning of their other name, Binturong, is unknown as the native language it was derived from is now extinct.

Photo credits: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Valentine The Baby Manatee Is Singapore's New Star!

Singapore Zoo celebrated the latest addition to its family on February 13, 2012 when one of its grand dames, Eva the 20-year-old Caribbean or West Indian Manatee, gave birth to male twins.

Unfortunately only one of her offspring survived. The other died soon after birth and was found to have a heart defect. Twin births are extremely rare for Manatees, which are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Photo credits: Wildlife Reserves Singapore 

Female Manatees reach sexual maturity as young as three years, and typically give birth to a single calf every two years, after a gestation of 12 months. It takes a further 12-18 months to wean the calf. With seven children and two grandchildren to her name, Eva is truly a star. Singapore Zoo now boasts nine of these fascinating creatures, the largest collection among the world’s ISIS institutions.

 

The newborn has been christened Valentine, and can already be seen independently exploring the pool although calves usually do not stray from their mothers for the first one to two years of their lives. The last manatee birth was in 2010, a male named Junior that is often seen playing with his baby brother.

"Long" Awaited Giraffe Arrival in Singapore!

Wildlife Reserves Singapore in Mandai, Singapore welcomed a lanky surprise this festive season – a 1.88m tall baby Giraffe born on December 5, 2011! The male calf got on his feet just moments after a six-foot drop from his mother, Dobeni, who gave birth standing up. The birth is the first in three years. The 75-kg baby, which is still unnamed, is the third South African Giraffe born at the Reserves' Night Safari. His father, Pongola, and mother Dobeni are also proud parents of female Giraffe Kayin, born at the park in 2008.

Photo credits: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

“We hope that the birth of this South African Giraffe sub-species at Night Safari will continue to increase the gene pool of the species for global zoological institutions through animal exchanges and breeding programs,” said Mr. Subash Chandran, Assistant Director, Zoology, for Night Safari.

Help Name Singapore Zoo's Baby Orangutan!

The legacy of Singapore Zoo’s most iconic resident, Ah Meng, continues to grow with the recent birth of her first great grandson earlier this year. Chomel, Ah Meng’s granddaughter, gave birth to the male Orangutan on 31 Jan at about 4.20am. Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is inviting Singaporeans to pick his name via an online voting system on Facebook.

Photo credits: Bjorn Olesen / Singapore Zoo

The Zoology team at the Singapore Zoo has shortlisted four names for the newborn and is asking members of the public to choose their favourite. The names are:

1.    Ah Boy: A common term of endearment for many boys at home in Singapore
2.    Bino: Meaning ‘Brave’ in Bahasa Indonesia
3.    Terang: Meaning ‘Bright’ in Malay
4.    Xing Xing: In Chinese, this means both ‘star’ and ‘ape

The contest on the WRS Facebook page is open to everyone who is a fan of the page. Voting will end 31 March 2011 and the name which earns the most number of ‘likes’ on Facebook will be the chosen name for the baby Orangutan.

Little Sun Bear in Singapore

The oldest – and possibly ‘fiercest’ – sun bear at the Singapore Zoo is now the proud grandmother of a yet to be named male baby bear. This 33-year-old matriarch named Garang, which means ‘fierce’ in Malay, and her daughter Judy welcomed the new family member in February.

Photo credits: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

A species ‘vulnerable’ to extinction, Singapore Zoo, is doing its part to ensure the sun bear’s survival through its successful captive breeding programme, which has produced three sun bears since Garang’s arrival as a one-year-old cub in 1978. Mother and daughter duo Judy and Matahari were both born in Singapore Zoo, as was the latest three-month-old addition.

Singapore's Sleepy Sloth

Baby sloths cling to mom for the first nine months of life and this little six month old is still enjoying her free ride. These photos of mother sloth Alba and her daughter, were taken May 2nd by Shirley Ng at the Singapore Zoo. As newborns, baby sloths are only the size of a baseball.

 Sleepy time... yet again...

What's a Tahr?

January saw multiple births of Himalayan Tahr at Singapore Zoo's Night Safari. Four year old Aman, who has been at the park for more than two years, became a proud father four times over. Himalayan Tahr are one of three species (in addition to the Nilgiri Tahr and the Arabian Tahr) of large Asian ungulates related to the wild goat.

 

 

Photos courtesy Wildlife Reserves Singapore

More pics after the jump...

Bad Hair Day at the Singapore Zoo

Now 6 months old, baby Saloma has proven to be a big attraction at the Singapore Zoo. This little Bornean Orangutan female is very expressive and curious but sticks close to mom, Binti.

Photo credit: Christopher Chan 

Photo credit: Pipiyup