Rare baby giraffe takes first steps

A rare breed of baby giraffe has taken its first steps into the outside world. Rotschild giraffes are really rare and must be preserved at any cost!

 

Kidepo was born at Chester Zoo and strode into the sunshine with mum Orla and dad Meru.

He's the most recent addition of rare Rothschilds' giraffes at the zoo, following on from the births of Zahra in December 2014 and Sanyu in June.

Their arrivals have given an important boost to the special breeding programme for the species, which is classed as endangered.

Sarah Roffe, team manager of the giraffes, said: "It'll take Kidepo a little bit of time to get used to his long legs but he already seems confident and full of personality and he's doing very well so far. We're really pleased with how he has taken to the rest of the herd and with how the herd has quickly taken to having him around." (CBBC newsround)

How do pandas survive on bamboo?

Bamboo famously makes up about 99 percent of a panda's diet.

So how do the black-and-white bears from the misty mountains of central China survive on a diet almost exclusively of a low-nutrient food like bamboo?

Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Zoology in Beijing have discovered an answer.

They found pandas have a particularly low metabolism, meaning their bodies burn energy from food very slowly.

A 90 kilogram panda burns less than half the energy of a human with the same weight, scientists have found.

Guzzling bamboo

However, pandas still have to eat a lot of bamboo - one needs up to 23kg a day.

The researchers also found wild pandas rested for more than half of any given day and travelled only about 20 meters per hour.

This is the way they save their energy and make up for their bad digestion.

Critically endangered

The critically endangered panda is the only one of the world's eight bear species with a vegetarian diet.

There are only about 1,800 giant pandas left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

From CBBC Newsround

Sumatran tiger cub triplets in 'tip-top shape'

Three rare Sumatran tigers's health are in 'tip top shape' after being examined, weighed and vaccinated by specialist vets at Chester Zoo.

The three cubs together after their health check ups

 

The three-month old cubs, born in January to mum Kirana and dad Fabi, were found to be two males and one female.

"It's really important for us to make sure they're healthy and in good physical condition and we're happy to report that all three of the cubs have been given a clean bill of health," said vet Gabby Drake.

 

Vets and vet nurses from Chester Zoo carefully check over one of the Sumatran tiger cubs

 

Sumatran tigers are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They are the smallest of all tigers and have the narrowest stripes.

"We checked them over as quickly as we could before returning them to their mum Kirana. She's a very good mother and fiercely protective of her young charges, so we certainly didn't want to hang around for long."

 

 





The cubs get a lick from their mother, Kirana, after their check ups

 

Critically endangered in the wild, there are believed to be just 300-400 Sumatran tigers left as they are often targeted by poachers who use their body parts as traditional medicine.

Much of their jungle habitat has also been destroyed.

 

From CBBC Newsround

 



Unusual panda triplets were born in a Chinese zoo

A zoo in southern China has unveiled newborn panda triplets, thought to be the world's first known surviving trio.

The zoo says that the cubs are "the only panda triplets that have ever survived," but newborn mortality rates for pandas are high

Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park described the trio, who were born on 29 July, as "a new wonder of the world".

Their mother, Juxiao, was too exhausted to care for them at first but is now nursing the triplets with assistance from feeders throughout the day.

Female pandas are able to conceive for only two or three days a year, leading to a very low reproduction rate.

The cubs are "the only panda triplets that have ever survived," the zoo said in a statement released on Tuesday, but it added that the newborn mortality rate among pandas is "extremely high".

Panda cubs are 900 times smaller than their Mother.

Pandas have a low reproductive rate in captivity, the WWF says.

China's leading panda authority, the Sichuan Wolong National Natural Reserve, has said that although the pandas are still too young to call "surviving", they are the first known living panda triplets.

The cubs have not been named yet and their genders are yet to be announced.

The panda population is threatened by habitat loss as land is increasingly inhabited by humans with around 1,600 pandas left in the wild in China, according to the WWF.

Super cute Rare red panda cubs born in Scotland

The Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland has welcomed TWO new arrivals - rare twin red panda cubs!

The super cute cubs join big brother Kush, who was the first red panda to be born in Scotland for 13 years.

They don't have names yet and keepers are trying not to disturb the family, so they don't know if they are male or female.

There are thought to be less than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild. They're on the IUCN red list for protected species.

Numbers are low because their natural habitat is being destroyed and they're a target for poachers.

Pandas?

Despite what their name suggests, red pandas are not related to giant pandas (which are part of the bear family), but are distantly related to the raccoon family.

From CBBC newsround

Giant salamander spotted on walk to school

A rare giant salamander has been spotted by a boy on his way to school in 
Japan.

Yu, a high school student in Kyoto, saw the creature slithering along the path by a river bank.

He filmed the salamander and asked police to guard it until it went back into the river.

Yu said: "I was just walking without really paying any attention to it but once I got close to it, it started to move"

"That's when I realized it was this giant salamander".

Japanese giant salamanders are amphibious, meaning they live on land and in water, and can grow up to 150 cm.

From CBBC newsround

Three African lions and two rare jaguars born at zoo

There's a baby boom at a zoo in Mexico!

Two rare jaguar cubs and three African lion cubs have been born there.

One is causing serious excitement because it's completely black!

The zoo's launched a competition for local children to help name them.

See the cute cubs.

From CBBC Newsround

White lion cubs born in South Korea

So cuuuuuute!

These two rare white lion cubs have been born at a zoo in South Korea.

There's only about three hundred white lion cubs left in the world so it's no surprise they're a big hit with visitors.

The cubs are being raised by the zookeepers for now. They'll be introduced to the rest of the lion family when they're seven months old.

From CBBC newsround

Baby panda cubs on show in China

Just when you're waiting for a panda cub, fourteen come along at once!

Just watch these cute cubs! 

They're true teddies,aren't they? 

Who wouldn't like to hold one?

These adorable baby pandas were shown off for the first time at the Chengdu Giant Panda centre in China on Monday.

There are fewer than 2,000 pandas left in the wild and the Chengdu centre works to protect the species.

The 14 cubs were artificially bred in the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in south-west China's Sichuan province.

Born between July and September this year, they are currently being raised in two delivery rooms at the base.

The eldest, Meng Meng, is four times heavier than the youngest, Ya Yi.

In the UK, they're're still waiting to see whether Tian Tian is going to have cubs too.

The panda Tian Tian at the National Zoo was artificially inseminated

Read more

The problem with panda pregnancies

From 

• CBBC Newsround 
• BBC News- Asia

Tiny Gardiner's frog can hear with its mouth!

Scientists think they've discovered a tiny species of frog that's able to hear with its mouth!

Gardiner's frogs are able to 'talk' to each other even though they don't have a middle ear or eardrum to hear sound.

Researchers found they have special mouths that resonate with the high-pitched sounds made by other frogs, transmitting them to their brains.

Scientists hope that they can study the way these unique frogs hear, to help in the treatment of deaf people.

Tiny, endangered species

For a long time it was thought that Gardiner's frogs, that live in the forests of an island in the Seychelles off the east coast of Africa, could not hear anything at all.

But it was observed during the study that the frogs would turn their heads when high-pitched sounds were made - so even without ears, somehow they were hearing the noises.

Sound waves make their mouths vibrate, like the body of a guitar. These vibrations are amplified to their brains, so they do not need fully-developed ears.

Gardiner's frogs are listed as an endangered species, because their habitat is being spoiled by fire, invasive species, and human activity including agriculture and tourism.

One of the scientists who has studied the animals, Dr Justin Gerlach, says: "The possible extinction of these frogs would mean the loss of 65 million years of remarkable evolution: not only are their hearing systems unusual, but they are also among the smallest frogs in the world."

Edinburgh zoo prepares for possible panda birth

It's the big question that nobody knows the answer to: is Tian Tian the panda pregnant?

Staff at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland are preparing for what could be the first panda cub to be born in Britain.

They still can't say for certain whether their female panda - on loan from China - is pregnant but say she is showing all the right signs.

If Tian Tian is carrying a cub, the birth is expected to be in the next two weeks - so the wait goes on.

One of the reasons why there is so much excitement around the potential pregnancy is that giant pandas are very rare.

There are only between 1,000 and 2,000 thought to remain in the wild.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the first to live in the UK for 17 years.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang they seemed to be very much in love not long ago

Panda cubs are born blind, hairless and unable to move, making them very dependent on their mums for the first few months.

After six to eight weeks, cubs open their eyes for the first time. They feed on their mother's milk for the first year and start eating bamboo at around six months.

From CBBC newsround

Baby peccaries' first time out

Check out these baby peccaries making their first public appearance at San Diego Zoo in America

So cuute!

The little pig-like mammals have been taking in the new smells and sounds of the zoo where they'll live.

Peccaries use their large snout to dig and root around and youngsters often play together by leaping around and running in circles.

But as they're still very young, mum and dad are very protective.

Their zookeeper said: "A lot of times they will walk in front of the babies so you can't see them."

"They will stop and stare at anything that's strange and if they're feeling really nervous they'll get the whole family to run to the back of the exhibit."

Giant panda twins born in conservation centre in China

Who would believe these so tiny pandas are giant pandas?

It's strange that such big mothers give birth to such tiny cubs!

A giant panda has given birth to twins, thought to be the first pair of the endangered species to be born in the world this year.

The tiny creatures were born in a conservation centre in southwest China just ten minutes apart.

One of the cubs is female and weighs about 80 grams, which is less than an average smartphone.

The centre hasn't been able to tell the public about the second cub because its mother hasn't released it from her embrace.

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province said the panda named Haizi gave birth to the two cubs 10 minutes apart on Saturday.

Staffers at the center, which is part of the Wolong Nature Reserve, say one cub is a female and weighs 79.2 grams (2.79 ounces). 

Giant pandas have difficulty breeding, with females fertile for only two or three days a year.

Pandas number about 1,600 in the wild, where they are critically endangered due to poaching and development. More than 300 live in captivity, mostly in China's breeding programs.

From CBBC and Huffpost Green