Five Burmese star tortoises hatched two months ago at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee.  They are due to be displayed this spring.

Burmese star tortoises are classified as critically endangered, nearing extinction in the wild due to deforestation and poaching.

The zoo worked in conjunction with the Turtle Survival Alliance to develop successful incubation periods for the tortoises. As one of only four AZA zoos to hatch these endangered tortoises, the Knoxville Zoo will share their successful incubation techniques with other AZA organizations in order to propogate the species.

For more info:
WBIR.com
Knoxville Zoo

Bili, a baby bonobo, was born at the Twycross Zoo in England. But when his mother rejected him, zookeepers hand-reared the young ape until he was ready to join a new foster mother and another group of bonobos at the Frankfurt Zoo in Germany.

Although Bili had official animal export documents, he was also given a pretend passport and his own seat on his Lufthansa flight to Germany.

For more information, see the Daily Mail’s article: “Baby monkey given own seat on plane with human passengers as he flies to Germany to meet his new mother”

Gray wolf populations in Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Utah and Wisconsin will be removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The move signifies an increase in population of gray wolves in these areas, which comes as a result of conservation efforts. The wolves will still be protected in Wyoming.

The incoming Obama administration will have the opportunity to relist the grey wolf as a protected species.

For further reading:  LA Times

Read Animal Fact Guide’s article: Gray Wolf.

The Bristol Gardens Zoo in England has become the first zoo to successfully breed the endangered Dragon Fish. A pair of Dragon Fish at the zoo have produced fifteen young fish, called fry. The effort to breed the fish included raising their water temperature and making more effort to purify the water in their tank.

The Dragon Fish is native to South East Asia, where it is close to extinction.

Further reading: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/7829283.stm

In response to Governor Paterson’s proposal to cut funding to New York’s zoos and botanical gardens, the Wildlife Conservation Society released this clever video:

While zookeepers in San Francisco were training a surrogate mother for the abandoned western lowland gorilla born there last month, another baby gorilla was born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  The newborn arrived in full view of spectators and a zookeeper last weekend.

In the wild, western lowland gorillas inhabit West and Central Africa where they are critically endangered.

Two Matschie’s tree kangaroos were born at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska in December 2008. Pictured here is mother Milla with the babies in her pouch. Zoo officials expect to see the twins’ heads poking out of the pouch in May 2009.

The pair of twins was a welcome surprise as Matschie’s (or Huon) tree kangaroos are endangered. In the wild, they inhabit high elevations of the island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

For more information, see:
AP’s “Rare tree kangaroo species has twins at Neb. zoo”
Lincoln Children’s Zoo – Matschie’s tree kangaroo

San Francisco zookeepers are currently training Bawang, a proven mother, to care for the baby gorilla born in December of last year.  The baby’s mother, Monifa, had abandoned the little one shortly after his birth and took no interest in tending to him.

According to Corrine MacDonald, curator of primates at the San Francisco Zoo, “Teaching Bawang to be a surrogate mom is no easy task and it’s going to take a lot of time and patience. She is an incredibly intelligent gorilla and all of us are committed to bringing these two together and ensuring this infant becomes a beloved member of the troop.”

Monifa, Bawang, and the infant are western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which are critically endangered in the wild.

For more information about the baby gorilla, see: NBC Bay Area’s “They Found a Mother Who Could Love This Face.”

A young harbor seal was discovered in a state fish hatchery in the town of Sandwich in Cape Cod.  There she had her pick of delicious trout to eat.  Her all-you-can eat buffet came to an end, however, when the Cape Cod Stranding Network captured the seal, tagged her, and released her back into the Atlantic in West Dennis.

What is interesting is the tremendous journey this seal had to make to reach the hatchery.  According to Misty Niemeyer of the Cape Cod Stranding Network, the seal would have had to waddle on land for 2 miles, including stretches on the boardwalk and through a tunnel under Route 6A.

For more information, see Boston.com’s article: “Hungry Seal Hits Bonanza at Fish Hatchery”

Although the PandaCam was turned off December 31 at Zoo Atlanta due to cost issues, here is a photo of Xi Lan, the second cub born to mother Lun Lun. Xi Lan was recently put on display in his mother’s enclosure.

For more information about Xi Lan, see Panda cub put on display at Zoo Atlanta.

To learn more about pandas, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Giant Panda.