More baby animals from ZooBorns

My Tiger on the Road came home from China after a splendid time, but now she is away again, in Switzerland with her dads, while Blas is at a conference. I wish I could be there with them! Since I can't, I'm watching videos of mother animals with their young. The tigers here are at the Zurich Zoo.


I am absolutely enamored of the site ZooBorns which brings news of new babies in zoos around the world. Inevitably, the joy of their arrival is tinged with the sadness that they should be in zoos because their species are threatened in their natural habitat. It takes a lot for one of these babies to survive:

The gestation period for Indian rhino pregnancies is approximately 16 months. When born, calves normally weigh in the range of 75-100 pounds and will nurse throughout their first two years. They are normally able to stand just hours after being born. 

The awesomeness of grizzly bears

The Minnesota Zoo has a YouTube Channel, and they posted a great video of 3 grizzly bears destroying a 500 lb pumpkin. They are an amazing sight as they emerge from their cave, so big, so plushy, such long claws and strength!


But the silence of the zoo-cam video is a little disappointing. I love this video of the same event shot by a zoo visitor, and what a great soundtrack! And the extra footage of the bear playing with a piece of the pumpkin in the water is wonderful.
The zoo also uses the bears for education: "Bear Awareness Week" shows what it looks like if you don't bear-proof your campsite!