Welcome our new litter of lion cubs!

African lioness Kiki gave birth to her first litter of cubs on May 31. Animal Management staff continues to monitor Kiki and cubs closely; so far, the 4-year-old lioness appears to be taking excellent care of her three new arrivals, estimated to have been between 3 and 5 pounds at birth. The cubs are the first African lions born at Zoo Atlanta in over 10 years.

Stay tuned as exciting new chapters unfold in three precious young lives, and be patient as Kiki helps her offspring get their start! Zoo staff anticipates that the cubs will be introduced to Members and guests when they are between 7 and 12 weeks old.

Wartful congratulations to Vern and Shirley on the birth of their first piglet

Georgia P is a miniature of her mama – tiny tusks and all – and she’s a different breed of adorable! Born on April 14, the little one made her outdoor debut on May 17. See her and her proud parents today in the African Plains!

Best wishes, Kashata!

On March 20, Kashata the western lowland gorilla traveled to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, where she will join a new gorilla family per recommendation of the Gorilla Species Survival Plan. The 15-year-old female had a familiar friendly face, Primate Keeper Kristina Krickbaum, with her on her trip to Florida. Congratulations to Kristina and the Primate Department for the months of hard work and training that led to Kashata’s successful trip and safe arrival as she embarks on an exciting new chapter.

Welcome back, Bioko!

	Inge with the newborn Bioko

Bioko, the first drill born at Zoo Atlanta, has returned to her birthplace. Born to the Zoo’s highly successful drill pair, Inge and the late Adonis, in 1992, Bioko grew up in Atlanta, later moving to the Columbus Zoo as a young adult. Zoo Atlanta regularly cooperates with fellow AZA-accredited institutions on species survival, often by transferring animals to other organizations for breeding opportunities. After Bioko arrived in Columbus, however, the complex natural behaviors of her highly social species made integration into her new group challenging. In the wild, drills live in family troops numbering 20 or more individuals, each with his or her own status within the hierarchy. When it became apparent that Bioko, never highly ranked within her Columbus troop, wasn’t likely to ever be fully accepted by other group members, it was recommended that she be re-introduced to her Georgia relatives.

Animal care staff welcomed the firstborn of Inge and Adonis back to the Zoo in late November. Now that she has completed her routine quarantine period, Bioko will have opportunities to get reacquainted with her mother and siblings in 2008.

Home on the African Plains

Here a waterbuck family, there ostrich, Thomson’s gazelle and crowned crane, small herds of giraffe and zebra … it’s not Africa, but it’s a remarkable recreation here on Zoo Atlanta’s African Plains. After the arrival of two lofty new ladies and a series of species-to-species introductions, the Zoo’s entire complement of savanna animals are now roaming their habitat together. Don’t miss Abu the reticulated giraffe getting to know his female companions Mona and Glenda; Members and guests can expect an entertaining journey as this young herd grows up together.

Outback Station staff spot Joey #4

Experienced mother Uluru the red kangaroo has yet another joey on the way, confirmed by an unusual sighting by Outback Station staff. Kangaroo joeys are rarely seen at this stage in their development; the tiny creature, barely larger than a bumblebee, was spotted crawling to Uluru’s pouch to attach itself to nurse.

In preparation for supporting her newest addition, Uluru recently denied her third joey access to her pouch. The youngster, who seemed no worse for the wear after his “eviction,” busies himself with playing, hopping and speeding through the kangaroos’ Outback Station habitat, returning frequently to his mother to nurse. Thanks to uniquely adapted reproductive systems, kangaroo mothers can accommodate a nursing joey and a developing embryo at the same time.

Tuesday, August 19

Well, as Zoo Atlanta anxiously proceeds through another giant panda birth watch, we here in Reptiles & Amphibians are conducting our own “Hatch Watch.” In our last update we revealed the exciting news that our female impressed tortoise was building a large nest out of mulch and leaves in her behind-the-scenes outdoor pen. Well, we have great news! She laid a large clutch of around 20 eggs in her nest, and at least 10 of them appear to be fertile and developing. Wow! This is amazing given the extraordinary health challenges these tortoises faced for so many years after their rescue by the Turtle Survival Alliance from a confiscated shipment of illegal turtles in Asia. If we are successful in hatching these out, it will a first among the zoos of the world.

But wait … that’s not all! We also have new eggs and recent hatchlings of spiny tortoises; one hatchling is currently on display in the World of Reptiles. We also have yet four more eggs, and another successful hatchling, from our critically endangered radiated tortoises. 

On the amphibian side of things, last week we were pleasantly surprised to find a clutch of several thousand eggs from our pair of evergreen toads on exhibit. The development of this species has never been observed in controlled captive conditions, so we are learning a lot as they grow up before our eyes. On your next visit, you’ll see that a few that are still in the exhibit. But you will have to look very carefully, as they are very tiny! We hope to see you soon.

Joe Mendelson, PhD
Curator of Herpetology

Tuesday, August 12

There are just a few more weeks of daily shows at Amy’s Tree and the Wildlife Theater before we switch to our post-Labor Day schedule of weekend shows. The Program Animals staff is always busy with shows and encounters during the spring/summer season, but we are actually BUSIER after the summer season. Program Animals staff members are responsible for education presentations (using animal friends) for many auditorium programs throughout the school year, and we can end up presenting two or three of these in a day. We also try to train new behaviours and work on new shows and scripts during this time, as well as catch up on projects that may have been lowered in priority so that we could perform more shows during peak summer hours.

Savannah the lanner falcon

And the sports venues start up again. For those of who may be unfamiliar, our department houses and trains the two live mascots for local sports teams. Savannah the lanner falcon flies at the start of each Falcons football home game, and “Spirit” the Harris hawk opens most local Hawks basketball games. Training the animals and taking them to the respective venues for practices AND games takes a lot of time and dedication from our team. And we still do shows on weekends and as many animal encounters as we can for our guests.

So after Labor Day, we may not be in sight quite as much, but look forward to catching our weekend shows (especially with cooler weather around the corner), sign up for some of the wonderful education programs the Zoo provides, and come wave and cheer for us at the local sporting events!

Jay Pratte
Lead Keeper, Program Animals

Tuesday, August 5

Where are the baby birds? Our guests rarely get to see our baby birds at the Zoo, but the Bird Department would like to politely point out that it’s not because the birds aren’t breeding. In fact, we’ve had one of the best seasons ever! Many birds look very like their parents from the moment they fledge (leave the nest). By then, they are almost full-sized, and only a trained eye will be able to spot the differences. As I type, we expect three young superb starlings to leave the nest tonight or tomorrow. Will anyone spot them as babies? Probably not, because they look so much like their parents!

Argus pheasant with her chicks

So why do most bird species grow up so fast? The longer they stay babies, the greater the chance of a predator finding the nest. However, we have had a couple of very obvious sets of bird babies this year. Our female Argus pheasant has raised her chicks on the floor of the aviary from day one. The whistling ducks in The Living Treehouse have also raised eight ducklings to full size. At 6 months old, our milky eagle owl chick still looks kind of young (at least, the top of her head is still a bit fluffy). And wait until our baby Major Mitchell’s cockatoos leave the nest box in mid September – they’ll look like babies for at least a couple of weeks!

James Ballance
Curator of Birds  

Thursday, July 31

The lion cubs have had a busy couple of weeks since the last update. Since then, the cubs have spent time in a den adjacent to their dad, Kamau, in preparation for meeting him. During the first stage of the introduction, when there was a physical barrier between them, Kamau was very interested in the cubs, and the cubs were very interested in their dad. Kiki and Kamau were also very interested in seeing each other again, and they rubbed against the mesh and vocalized to each other. After spending some time in this arrangement, it was then time to introduce the cubs to Kamau. (At this age in the wild, Kiki would be leading the cubs to kills, and the cubs would be able to keep up with the rest of the pride.)

When the family had access to each other, we saw much of the same behavior, in that the cubs were very interested in meeting their dad, and Kamau was very interested in meeting his sons. Kiki continued to be a very good, but protective, mom. She kept a close eye on the cubs and Kamau and made sure that all three cubs stayed safe. Initially, the cubs were fairly tentative around their dad, but as time went on, they learned that his tail and mane were both very fun toys. Kamau was very patient, and despite his large size, was generally quite gentle with the cubs, even when it was clear that he would rather be resting than have a cub tugging on his mane. We continue to conduct introductions on a regular basis to ensure that Kiki becomes comfortable with Kamau’s presence around the cubs. She has proven to be a more protective and vigilant mom than we anticipated.

Kiki demonstrated her protective nature again on Tuesday, when we gave her and the cubs access to the exhibit for the first time. Although the cubs were anxious to explore every inch of the exhibit, Kiki was reluctant to let them stray too far from the safety of their off-exhibit area, and she carried the cubs back to the den. After a while, however, the cubs tired, and they settled down on their outdoor patio for some nursing and napping. As with the introductions to Kamau, we will continue to give Kiki and the cubs regular access to the exhibit, which will allow them to explore their new space. This will also allow Kiki to become more comfortable with the cubs’ newfound independence.

Megan Wilson, PhD
Assistant Curator of Carnivores

Tuesday, July 29

We are watching carefully—and hopefully—as one of our female impressed tortoises is building a large nest out of mulch and leaves in her off-exhibit outdoor pen. This is quite promising that she may be preparing to lay eggs, as we’ve never seen this behavior in her previous, eggless years here at the Zoo. Our entire colony of impressed tortoises was rescued by the Turtle Survival Alliance from a confiscated shipment of illegal turtles in Asia. They arrived at Zoo Atlanta in deplorable condition from their sub-standard shipping containers, and it is only now, after years of intensive care and some valiant emergency veterinary procedures, that we are beginning to see signs of reproduction. If she is successful in laying a fertile clutch of eggs, this will be a first for Zoo Atlanta, a first for any U.S. zoo, and one of only a very few successful hatchings for this species in captivity. As a result of unsustainable harvesting in the wild for the food markets of China, this species is very near extinction. So every egg counts in our struggle to keep this species afloat! You can see one of our impressed tortoises nearly every day on display in the World of Reptiles. We hope to see you soon.

Joe Mendelson, PhD
Curator of Herpetology

Tuesday, July 22

There are lots of great things going on in the Large Mammal Department these days, starting with Outback Station. The kangaroo joey is definitely a boy, and he’s now spending more time out of mom’s pouch, hopping around the yard like crazy and even starting to cautiously approach keepers. He’s a curious one!

The petting zoo is quite busy this summer. Keepers are working hard to keep the animals cool. The Kunekune pigs are enjoying time in their pools, and the goats, sheep and kangaroos are spending time cooling off under misting hoses.

It’s also a really exciting time in the elephant/warthog area. Dottie, our pregnant elephant, is doing great. She’s getting weekly ultrasounds to track the pregnancy. During the ultrasounds, staff has been able to see the 90-beats-per-minute heartbeat! Perfect. At this point the baby is approximately the size of a basketball.

Georgia P the warthog piglet was recently weighed for the first time since her initial exam. When she was born on April 16, she weighed 2 pounds. Today, at just over 3 months old, she weighs a whopping 41.8 pounds!

The hoofstock keepers have had their hands full with our adolescent male giraffe, Abu, who has been causing mischief as of late. He has been following and sparring with our adult male waterbuck, Arizona. Arizona has been very patient and has been avoiding Abu as much as possible. Keepers are aware of Abu’s antics and are keeping a close eye on them. The hoofstock yard has a number of places where smaller animals can get away from the giraffe if they are being harassed, and hay piles are put in these places to encourage the waterbuck to stay in these areas. Keepers also provide browse and other enrichment to keep the animals busy doing other things besides messing with each other!

On a sad note, keepers were present when our female waterbuck Kokopelli gave birth to a stillborn calf on Saturday, July 19. Kokopelli continues to do well as she recovers from the usual stress of labor, and she has been reunited with Binti, her daughter from last year. Arizona will remain separate from the group for a few more weeks so that mom can recuperate.

Nikki Bouwens
Large Mammal Keeper III