A second Chinese pangolin was born in the Prague zoo in less than two years and is doing well, defying the odds and surprising park officials.
The female of the critically endangered mammal was born July 1, the second Chinese pangolin born in captivity in Europe following her sister, Cone, in February last year.
She weighed just 141 grams but was putting on about 10 grams daily and could reach 250 grams this week, the zoo said.
Adults can reach up to 6.8 kilograms.
When the park in 2022 received Guo Bao, a male, and Run Hou Tang, a female, from the Taipei zoo, the leading breeder of the mammals, the major goal was just to keep them alive and in good health, zoo director Miroslav Bobek said Wednesday.
"We certainly hoped that we'll have a baby born one day in the future but absolutely nobody expected that we'll have two in a year and a half," Bobek said.
The Chinese pangolin is native to southern China and Southeast Asia. It's one of the four pangolin species in Asia, with the others found in Africa. They are hunted heavily for their scales and meat.
The pangolins are difficult to breed in captivity because they require a special feed that includes drone larvae and need a particular humidity and temperature in their enclosure.
Prague became only the second European zoo to keep the species.
The pangolins arrived came after Prague decided to revoke a sister-city agreement with Beijing and signed a similar deal in 2020 with the Taiwanese capital, Taipei. The deal caused tensions with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory. The agreement included cooperation between the Taipei and Prague zoos.
Checks have revealed there are already 31 new Tasmanian devil joeys at Aussie Ark's Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary and Species Recovery Unit.
The new joeys vary in age from one to three months old, the conservation organisation said in a release.
They remain clamped to their mother's teat for 100 days.
A mother devil's pouch can hold up to four joeys at a time.
Aussie Ark wildlife ranger Adam Mowbray with a mother devil.
"This was the first time I've been able to lead the charge checking our devils' pouches, and so to have a tiny devil joey in my hands was truly, truly amazing," Mowbray said.
Symbio Wildlife Park in New South Wales has announced the birth of tiny twins to their smallest pygmy marmoset parents, Pepper and Mateo.
The monkeys are the smallest breed in the world, with each twin weighing just 15 grams.
They will only grow to about 12-15cm tall as adults.
Pygmy marmosets are native to the Amazon rainforest and are renowned for their diminutive size.
Primate zookeeper at Symbio Wildlife Park Zoe Ridge said the zoo was "overjoyed" by the tiny twins' birth.
"The birth of these twins is not only a testament to the care and dedication of our staff but also to our commitment to the conservation of endangered species," she said.
The pair were born in late May.
Conservation organisation Aussie Ark has celebrated a special breeding milestone, with three different species of endangered freshwater turtles hatching 72 eggs.
The Manning River, Bell's River and Hunter River turtle hatchlings are no larger than a thumbnail.
Aussie Ark will care for the hatchlings until they are adult sized and can safely be released into the wild.
Conservation Manager Hayley Shute said the arrivals represented the "most stunning reproductive success' Aussie Ark has ever had with its freshwater turtle species".
"These turtles face extinction in the wild. So having such a high number hatch in our care is massive for Aussie Ark, Australia and the world," Shute said.
Four small juvenile quolls have been discovered at the Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Australia.
It's the first time independent juvenile Western Quolls have been born at the sanctuary in more than a decade.
Quolls are tree-climbing, den-dwelling marsupials native to Australia.
They were discovered after the team began investigating cat trap tampering outside the sanctuary's feral predator-free fenced area.
The bait had been gone and the culprit was nowhere to be found.
The team quickly deployed motion sensor cameras in the hopes of finding the culprits.
Upon reviewing the footage this year, four small quolls were busted pink pawed attempting to break into the traps.
Despite the disruption to feral animal control, ecologists were delighted to discover the enterprising young mischief-makers as they are the first to be born on sanctuary in around 100 years.
"This is very exciting for the team, as it's our first evidence of successful breeding to independence for reintroduction program at Mt Gibson," Field Ecologist Erin Barritt said.
In an egg hunt with a difference, keepers at the Australian Reptile Park have spotted six King Brown snakes hatching out of their eggs today.
Their arrival has been highly anticipated, as it is the first time King Brown snake hatchlings have been born at the park in eight years.
The hatchlings' parents are two King Brown snakes from southern Darwin which were brought to the Australian Reptile Park in October last year, as part of their venom program.
King Brown snakes from this region are known for being larger than average and so often have a larger amount of venom, making them a great asset to the park's venom program.
Once the snakes laid the six eggs, the park venom keepers helped to keep them safely incubated - a process which can take up to 80 days before a youngling hatches.
When born, the hatchlings break open their eggs with a temporary tooth called an 'egg tooth'. They then sit inside the egg with their head poking out until they're ready to leave their egg, which can take up to 24 hours.
Operations Manager of the Park, Billy Collett, was responsible for the challenging task of mating the two adult snakes, which took several attempts.
"I'm absolutely stoked that the pairing was a success, and we now have six beautiful little King Brown snakes to hand raise," he said.
"Once they're mature, these little guys are going to become a key part of our venom program."
The Australian Reptile Park is the only place in the world that milks Australian land snakes for antivenom. It provides the life-saving antivenom to roughly 300 snake bite victims across Australia every year.
Sydney's Taronga Zoo has announced it welcomed the birth of twin Red Panda cubs to mother Daiyu in December.
The male and female pair were born weighing a mere 100 grams.
They have been tucked away suckling from their mother in the safety of their den suince.
The cubs are nearing three months old and are expected to start popping their heads out of their nest box and exploring their habitat soon.
Red Pandas are an endangered animal.
It is estimated there are less than 10,000 remaining in the wild.
Koala joey Albert has been reintroduced to his real mother Elsa at the Australian Reptile Park for the first time since he was rescued.
Albert is the tiniest koala joey ever hand-raised at the Australian Reptile Park.
He had to be looked after for the past five months by Australian Reptile Park life sciences manager and part-time koala mum Hayley Shute because his mum Elsa fell ill when he weighed a mere 280g.
With Albert now weighing 3kg, he has transitioned from bottle feeding to munching on eucalyptus leaves, and has even made a few koala friends at the Park's Koala Preschool.
Hayley Shute carefully orchestrated the reunion with his mum Elsa today.