Spring at the Zoo

Spring really seemed to have arrived today, and to celebrate, some of the animals at the zoo were showing off their offspring.

The squirrel monkeys are giving birth almost daily. They are not all good mothers like this one, though.


Dominant females without young are kidnapping the babies of lower-ranking females.The "good" mother is trying to take away a baby from a kidnapper that has no milk to feed it.


She succeeded, but only temporarily. The baby is getting weaker and will probably die.


There is an okapi baby, born in November, but only recently on show.The pregnancy lasts 14-15 months. I had NO idea though.The pictures are dark, as the baby was indoors and I didn't want to bother him with the flash.





Here he is with mum.The male I got to stroke a few months ago is not dad.He has only been at the zoo for about a year.Dad was moved on to breed elsewhere.Great life, eh? Love 'em and leave 'em.


The sloths haven't yet bred, as far as I know.This one wedged itself into a nest box in such a way that you can't tell what's what.You can see three sets of claws, and there seems to be an extra arm on the right.But is this the front or back view?


I returned later to find that it had adjusted its position slightly.

Shortly after this, it pulled itself out of the hole, and set off at an alarming rate of at least a yard a minute. Wow! Speed freak!