Four endangered northern white rhinos have been moved to Kenya from a Czech zoo. There are no northern white rhinos left in the wild and only eight left in captivity.

Wildlife workers hope that the move to the game preserve will result in an increase in reproduction for the rhinos. In 24 years at the Czech zoo the rhinos did not reproduce.

The overall aim of the project is to eventually reintroduce northern white rhinos into their native habitats in Africa.

Read more at GoogleNews.

The brown pelican has faced many threats in the last hundred years.  At the brink of extinction in the early 1900s,  brown pelicans were hunted for their feathers. In the 1970s, their populations struggled again due to the chemical DDT which weakened their eggs so they cracked prematurely.  In recent years, they faced Gulf Coast oil spills and Hurricane Katrina.  But finally, federal officials say the brown pelican population has recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list.

To learn more, see: LA Times.

On September 13, Busch Gardens welcomed a baby bongo, an antelope native to the rainforests of Africa. This particular subspecies of bongo, the Eastern Mountain bongo, is considered critically endangered by the IUCN, with an estimated population of only 75-140 individuals alive in the wild.

PHOTOS: Matt Marriott/Busch Gardens

Quadruplet red panda cubs have been born in the Denver Zoo.  The three boys and one girl are only the fifth group of quadruplets born in the United States.

Their parents, Sophia and He-Ping, were matched up from different zoos in an effort to maintain healthy and genetically diverse populations. They gave birth to a set of twins last year.

Red pandas are listed as endangered species, with only 2500 in the wild. They are found in the Himalayas and feed mainly on bamboo. They are at risk because of hunting and habitat destruction.

For more information and to download a baby red panda wallpaper, visit The Denver Zoo website.

Climate change may be to blame for decreasing populations of pikas, a furry relative of rabbits. Pikas make their home in the mountainous regions of the western United States but are threatened by rising temperatures. While other animals are able to move as a way to adapt to changing temperatures, pikas will not migrate. Once they decide on a home they will stay there, even if it results in their death.

If the pika becomes listed as a threatened or endangered species, laws can be changed or created to curb activities that create greenhouse gases.

For more, visit NPR.org.

Bai Yun, who was reported last month to be pregnant, has given birth to a cub this week. She has given birth to four other cubs in her life: Hua Mei, Mei Sheng, Su Lin and Zhen Zhen. The most recent cub has yet to be named.

Although it was possible that she would give birth to twins, it appears that she will not give birth to the second cub. Pandas have the ability to reabsorb a fetus if it is not fully developed.

Read more at the LA Times.

Check out the San Diego Zoo Panda Cam.

Read more about giant pandas on Animal Fact Guide.

This month marked another significant step in the conservation of clouded leopards.  Three cubs were born to parents Jing Jai and Arun at the Nashville Zoo.  As mentioned in a previous post where two clouded leopard cubs were born at the National Zoo, breeding these wildcats in captivity has proven difficult.  Many times the male leopard will kill the female or the female will kill her cubs.  So the birth of three cubs is a momentus occasion.

Clouded leopards are endangered in the wild (southeast Asia) due to hunting.

For more info: Tennessean.com

Dave Parsons | The Denver Zoo

Arriving on April 18, this endangered primate is only the second aye-aye born in a North American zoo.  Native to Madagascar, aye-ayes have a monkey-like body, a squirrel-like tail, large eyes, and an elongated middle finger (which they use to pick insects out of tree hollows).

For more info:
Denver Zoo
Denver Post

Photo: Santa Ana Zoo

A pair of golden lion tamarins were born at the Santa Ana Zoo in late March.  Shown here grabbing hold of mother Abril’s back, the babies will put on public display as soon as they start exploring on their own.

Golden lion tamarins are considered endangered in their native home of Brazil.

For more information, see OC Register.

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, a philanthropist in the UK has promised to double any donations made to six different wildlife charities on charity website, www.theBigGive.org.uk.

This means that anyone giving £5 or over will have the same amount donated to their chosen charity on their behalf. Donation doubling will start at 10am on Monday, February 23rd and will finish when £50,000 has been spent.

The chosen charities are Project African Wilderness (PAW), The Born Free Foundation, Orangutan Foundation, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, Wilderness Foundation UK and The Gorilla Organization.

These projects care for and protect a huge range of wildlife and wild spaces, including polar bears, elephants, tigers, lions, rhinos, dolphins and turtles.

Anyone wishing to double their donation or find our more about the chosen charities is advised to visit www.theBigGive.org.uk at 10.00am on Monday, February 23rd.