Two baby Bolivian titi monkeys were born this earlier this month at the Bronx Zoo.  The two babies live in separate enclosures with their parents. According to Josh Charlton, assistant curator of mammals at the Bronx Zoo, “Often, you’ll see the offspring hitching a ride on the dad’s back.”

For more information, see the NY Post’s “Zoo Ape about Babies.”

Weighing in at 3 pounds, 10 ounces, this hairless, baby aardvark arrived into the world on December 8 at the Detroit Zoo.  Described as “hideously cute,” the newborn was named Amani, which is Swahili for “peace.”

Aardvarks live in Africa and use long sticky tongues to lap up insects.

For more information on Amani, see Free Press’s “Detroit Zoo welcomes newborn aardvark.”

Providence’s Roger Williams Park Zoo welcomed a baby giraffe on December 22nd.  Weighing in at around 90-95 pounds and measuring 5′6, the young giraffe will stay with parents Sukari and Griffin for one year before transferring to a different zoo.

For more information, see Providence Journal’s “Another giraffe is born at Roger Williams Park Zoo.”

To learn more about giraffes in the wild, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Giraffe.

Here is a video of a fascinating talk given by Susan Savage-Rumbaugh in 2004 about bonobos.  Studies showed that bonobos display many similarities to early man in their ability to walk bipedally and make/use stone tools.  The video also demonstrates bonobos’ great capacity to learn human culture simply by watching the behavior of the scientists around them, including playing musical instruments, writing, making fires, and driving.

A 2.5-week-old hippo calf recently made its first public appearance at the Berlin Zoo – the first hippo born at the zoo in 3 years.

For more information, see the Telegraph’s “Baby hippo makes first appearance at Berlin Zoo”

For more information about hippos, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Hippopotamus.

The Florida panther, a small subspecies of the cougar that inhabits southwest Florida, has grown in population from a mere 20 cats in the 1970s to 100 panthers currently.

However, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will only deem their conservation plan successful when three colonies of 240 panthers thrive.  In the current space of 3500 square miles, this may not be possible.  Scientists believe the area has reached maximum capacity for the large felines.

So far, possible plans to establish cougar colonies in Arkansas, Georgia, and northern Florida have not come to fruition. In the meantime, human population and development has increased significantly in southwest Florida in past years, decreasing the possiblity of expanding the panther population there.

For more information about the Florida panther space issue, see St. Petersburg Times: “Florida’s panthers thriving, but running out of room”

To learn more about Florida panthers, view Animal Fact Guide’s article: Cougar.

Researchers from the journal Science have concluded that elephants in European zoos have shorter lifespans than elephants living in protected areas in Africa. Specifically, they have calculated the median lifespan for a zoo-born African elephant to be 16.9 years as compared with 56.0 years in a protected park.  Similarly, Asian elephants born in a zoo live 18.9 years as compared with 41.7 years.  Researchers have also found that although survival rates have improved in recent years, mortality rates for elephants in zoos is still significantly higher.

Causes of the shorter lifespans can be attributed to disease, infanticide, obesity, and stress.  In the wild or in protected parks, elephants are able to roam vast distances with their herd.  At zoos, space is more limited, thereby accounting for some issues like obesity and stress.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has sharply criticized the study, noting that data was collected from only European zoos as opposed to North American zoos. Further, the AZA contends that the study is flawed because it does not take into account the many elephants who are killed by people in the wild.

For more information:
Boston Globe: Zoo elephants at far greater risk of premature death
New York Times: Critical Report on Health of Zoo Elephants Is Debated
Houston Chronicle: Elephants have shorter lives in zoos, researchers find

For more information about African elephants and what you can do to help them, read Animal Fact Guide’s article: African Elephant.

Two white lion cubs were recently born at Belgrade Zoo in  Serbia. The two cubs, whose mother shares their distinct coloration and whose father is regularly-colored, are the first white lions born at the Belgrade Zoo.

White lions are neither albinos nor a separate species from other lions, though they are rare.  Unique to South Africa in the wild, white lions are often sought out by hunters.  A 2004 study revealed that only 30 survived in the wild.

For more information: AFP – Two rare white lion cubs born in Belgrade zoo

Scientists have turned to genome sequencing to determine how to categorize the platypus. With the help of a female platypus named Glennie, scientists have found that there are reptilian, avian and mammalian genome features present. These findings help prove that the unique platypus really is in a class by itself.

For more information: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/1968300-platypus-genome-is-a-mishmash-of-reptilian-avian-and-mammalian-genomes

For more interesting facts about how the platypus is unique, visit Animal Fact Guide’s article: Platypus