Oryx calves
In January 2012, Aalborg became home to 6 new oryx calves. The beautiful oryx with its enormous horns is considered to be one of the world's most endangered species, so the new calves are a very welcome addition to Aalborg Zoo.
New baby giraffe
In December 2011, Aalborg Zoo's female giraffe Caroline gave birth to a brand new baby boy. Aalborg Zoo has a succesful breeding program for the Rothschilds Giraffe, and zoo's giraffes often have new babies. The Rothchilds Giraffe is considered to be the most endangered of all giraffes. Giraffes are the tallest animals on land with the males being up to five and a half meters tall and weighing 1200 kilo.
Baby Augo at play
Polar bears require a lot of activity in order to not develop their natural behaviour, so the keepers are always busy finding new and exciting ways of keeping the animals occupied. They bury food for instance, grease the rocks with lard or honey, or feed the animals live fish. The bears are also activated by means of tyres, balls, and other toys – polar bears are very inquisitive and playful! In order to keep the animals on their toes, the zoo keepers must be innovative, and set routines must be avoided.
Watch little Augo playing with af blue bucket
New polar bear cub in Aalborg Zoo
On the 20th of November 2010 Aalborg Zoos 10 year old polar bear Malik gave birth to three cubs, unfortunately two of the cubs died during the first critical days. However the third cub is doing very well, and mother Malik takes very good care of her newborn baby. Malik and the newborn cub are staying in the maternity den until after winter. You can see the little cub in the picture, it weighs about 600 gram.
Read more about the polar bears at Aalborg Zoo.
Newborn lion cubs in Aalborg Zoo
During autumn a total of 7 new lion cubs have seen the light of day. Both the lioness Fibi and Naomi have given birth. The young cubs are doing very well and are ready to explore their surroundings. Until now, they have been kept away from visitors because they need rest, but now the lion cubs can be seen in the lion cage, that once again is open to visitors.
Newborn tigercubs in Aalborg Zoo
Aalborg's old female tiger has given birth to 4 cubs: 3 males and 1 female. The birth went smoothly and the cubs are doing well. The cubs are born blind, and they weigh about 1 kilo. The first couple of days, the tigers are kept at a safe distance from the audience, to make sure the mother does not get stressed. Hereafter the visitors can see the newborn cubs in the tiger cage. The Siberian tiger is the biggest cat animal and it is an endangered species.
Newborn red-panda in Aalborg Zoo
In the middle of July the red-panda in Aalborg Zoo gave birth to a new little panda. However the cub cannot be seen for the first 3 months, when it leaves its cave and begins to check out its outdoors surroundings. The cub weighs about 110-130 grams, and it is born blind. It gets its eye sight, when it is approx 2½ weeks old. The Red-panda is an endangered species, so it is a happy occasion when cubs are born in Aalborg Zoo.
All good things come in threes
Once again Aalborg welcomes a newborn giraffe. This time is it the female giraffe Caroline that gives birth to newest member of the giraffe flock. You can visit Aalborg Zoo in the summer and see the three newborn giraffes on the big savanna.
Royal giraffe born in Aalborg Zoo
This year Aalborg Zoo is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The festivities were officially opened on the 27th of March by HRH Prince Joachim. However the day before, another expected guest announced its arrival. The giraffe Nanna gave birth to a new little giraffe. Since the calf is a bull calf, it has been named after Prince Joachim.
Yet another baby in the Aalborg Zoo
Aalborg Zoo is experiencing a true baby boom, and in February another little giraffe was born in the zoo. The birth came as a big surprise to the zoo keepers, as they did not know, the female Jonna was pregnant. Jonna is the eldest in the flock. Until now, the little baby can be seen in the big African stable, but come summertime, it will also be possible to enjoy the little calf outside on the big savannah. For the next couple of years, the calf will stay with the flock here in Aalborg, whereafter it will be sent to another zoo as part of the breeding partnership.
New animal cubs in Aalborg Zoo
Although autumn has left its mark, there are still a lot of animal cubs in Aalborg Zoo - a newborn anteater, an armadillo, a spider monkey, chimpanzees, orangutans and lions. Last but certainly not least, there is always something going on in the polar bear den, where the cub Milak lives.
Armadillo born in Aalborg Zoo
For the first time in Aalborg Zoo's history, the female armadillo gave birth to a viable young. The armadillo has given birth before but only to stillborn cubs. According to zoo keeper Karina Jensen, the reason for this change is, that the armadillo cage has been rebuilt, thereby given the mother better opportunity to hide while giving birth. The Armadillo was actually born 30. August 2009 but it has remained in the birth-cave with its mother and has only now begun to venture out in the installation. Aalborg Zoo's armadillos belong to the species called 6-band armadillo, which are found in the rainforest regions of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
First anteater in the history of Aalborg Zoo After 4 years, Aalborg Zoo had given up all hope of getting their two anteaters Günter and Karina to mate However on the 9th August 2009, Karina surprised her zoo keeper with a little newborn cup. Unfortunately, the newborn anteater is fatherless, as Günter was put to sleep earlier this year. The great anteater is highly endangered. Günter was captured in the wild, and he is therefore delivering important genetic material for the European breeding program.
Aalborg Zoo and the African Hyenas
No one can resist the charms of a puppy! That also goes for the nine little African hyenas, staring out nosily and confidently at the big wide world. They do not have the faintest idea, that they are a real rarity. But they are a success story. The puppies were born in the spring of 2007 in Aalborg Zoo, and it is very seldom that African hyenas are born in captivity.
Cubs born in Aalborg Zoo
Zebras, lions, giraffes, dwarf hippopotamuses, chimpanzees and all sorts of other animals in the Zoo regularly give birth. Much to the delight of the Zoo's many visitors, who can look forward to seeing new baby animals every month of the year.
”It is a very healthy sign that these animals are giving birth. Not only because the births preserve the life of the various animals, you see in the world's zoos, but also because they contribute to saving these
species in the wild,” says Søren Sørensen, Aalborg Zoo`s Public Relations Officer.
Saving endangered species
Aalborg Zoo really knows how to look after their animals, and their constantly grows. They exchange their experiences with, and get new knowledge from, other zoos and universities throughout the world. And they work together in terms of breeding selected animals.
”It’s a sad fact, that many animals all over the world are so few in numbers that they risk disappearing. So we consider it a very important task to save these endangered species from becoming extinct,” says Søren Sørensen.
A partcularly fine example is the elegant sable oryx, one of the two species of antelope to be seen in Aalborg Zoo’s African Village. The sable oryx has almost disappeared in the wild, and today it can only really be seen in zoos, including Aalborg Zoo.
Feel free to ask
But of course it is not only the rare and endangered animals, you can see in Aalborg Zoo. All the 'classics' are here too. Elephants, lions, polar bears, giraffes, chimpanzees, sea lions, snakes and exotic birds are just some of the 140 different animal species on show. And all are presented in surroundings that, as closely as possible, resemble the animals’ natural habitats.
”We want visitors to see, smell and hear the animals as if they were visiting them in their places of origin, whether that is Africa, Greenland or anywhere else in the world,” says Søren Sørensen, who also stresses the importance of giving visitors an exciting lesson about the animals and their worlds. So all over the Zoo there are signs, brochures and monitors with information about the animals and their natural habitats.
”And of course visitors can also speak to the zoo-keepers. All our keepers are trained to communicate their knowledge of the animals to the public, and are more than happy to do so. So please feel free to ask,” says Søren Sørensen.