Zoo Babies

I saw these adorable pictures of the newest zoo animals and thought you would like to see them.

"For only the second time in history, Giant River Otters have been successfully bred at a North American zoo. Born January 31st at Zoo Miami, there are two pups, one male and one female, each weighing between 2 and 3lbs. While they might be small now, these pups will grow up to be truly giant at a length of 6ft and a weight of around 75 lbs.! This landmark event represents the culmination of years of collaboration between Zoo Miami, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Cali Zoo in Columbia and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment."

This little Polar Bear meet the snow and love it!

Here is a video of the Polar Bear cub's first day in the snow.

A Handful of Baby Platypus

"The Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia is the new home for an orphaned baby Platypus, called a "puggle." Named "Yamacoona" (Wurundjeri for "water spirit"), this tiny baby weighed only 335 grams when she arrived at the Sanctuary in a critical condition four weeks ago. She was miraculously found floating in saltwater (Platypuses live in freshwater) about three miles from the mouth of the Mitchell River. The nearest known sighting of any Platypus is 31 miles (50 kilometers) upstream from the mouth of the Mitchell River. 

Healesville Sanctuary vets believe it is possible that the Platypus' mother may have died during recent flooding so the puggle was washed out to the island into salt water. Yamacoona is about three months of age, and wouldn't have been weaned for another 6-8 weeks."

"For the past four weeks Yamacoona has been cared for by the veterinary team and Platypus experts at Healesville Sanctuary. She arrived in a critical condition - it's the equivalent of a premature baby being cared for by intensive care neonatal doctors - except that she was being cared for by the veterinary and Platypus keeping team. She was being tube-fed but has now been weaned and taken off the critical list.
Healesville Sanctuary is renowned as the world expert in Platypus care and breeding.

Although Platypus are not a threatened species, breeding them in captivity is still a rare event. The conservation value of the captive breeding of Platypus gives us exclusive knowledge if we ever needed an insurance population for the future survival of this unique species.
People can also adopt a Platypus for as little as $10 a month. Adopting a Platypus is a great way to contribute directly to the care, wellbeing and enrichment of wildlife, both inside and outside our three zoos, as well as keeping updated about the Platypus. Visit http://www.zoo.org.au/ " 

Here are some pictures of Eora, the newest Koala at Beauval Zoo in France.

Here are twin Asiatic Lion Cubs at Bristol Gardens

"Born Christmas Eve, twin little Asiatic Lion cubs have just begun to emerge atBristol Zoo Gardens. The 10 week old cubs, one male and one female, are quite shy and spend most of their days enjoying quiet time in the den or hiding in the undergrowth of their outdoor enclosure. However, Assistant Curator of Mammals, Mel Bacon, reports that “Both cubs are fit, healthy and strong and have been suckling well, and Shiva is proving to be an excellent first-time mother. The cubs have recently started to eat meat and are getting more adventurous, exploring their enclosure." Asiatic lions are critically endangered and there are only around 400 left in the wild.  Two thousand years ago they once roamed the whole of the Middle East. More recently they were widespread throughout northern India and Pakistan, but their numbers have been drastically reduced by hunting and habitat destruction." 

H/T Zooborns

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the newest animal babies at the various zoos.