New Babies
2011 was a busy year for babies here at Blackpool Zoo!
New babies are always welcome here. They boost the numbers of our endangered species and are always loved by our visitors.
Meisie the Western Lowland gorilla arrived in 2010 and has made amazing progress. We watched being carried round by her mum, Miliki, learning to crawl and, more recently, pottering round the enclosure by herself and being a nuisance to dad, Bukavu!
Her progress is similar to that of a human toddler and she, too, has tantrums and stamps her feet!
Although, in the future, Meisie may have to leave the group to join another collection, we look forward to seeing her develop into a confident, healthy, mature gorilla here at Blackpool.
Ivy's baby, Hollie, the Pileated gibbon, arrived the day before Meisie in 2010 and has been developing in a similar fashion. She loves to swing round the enclosure and is very independent indeed. Ivy, although a late first-time mum, has been very chilled in her approach to parenting, allowing the youngster to explore her surroundings, but always available for a comforting cuddle!
Babies abound, literally, in Wallaby Walkabout! Kangaroos and wallabies mix happily in this spacious walkthrough enclosure and the babies' progress is followed by several of our regular visitors.
Wallabies and kangaroos are marsupials and carry their babies in their pouch. The baby, or joey, is not considered "born" until it's out of the pouch full time.
.jpg "wallabyandjoey")
More recently, we've welcomed two new Bactrian camels, additions to one of the most endangered species in Asia. A male and a female, they've been hand-reared as their mums were unable to look after them. They're very lively indeed and love a cuddle from their keepers.
They have been mixing in with the rest of the herd and the keepers will soon begin to withdraw from the youngsters in order to allow them to learn to become camels.
Another welcome addition to a critically endangered species is Tebogo, a male Hartmann's zebra foal, born to Mum, Helene, and father, Fernando. He's a strong, active colt and will eventually leave us to join another group for breeding purposes. As Fernando is the only Hartmanns stallion in the UK, Tebogo is particularly valuable to the survival of the species.
Finally, the birth of a very cute Mediterranean Miniature donkey thrilled us all. Leah, a female or filly foal, arrived safely in June after a very long wait for her mum, Charlene, to give birth.
Leah was the perfect Fathers' Day present for our popular and friendly stallion, Danny.
