Baby Boom in Wilhelma

18.9.2022 – Source: Wilhelma, Stuttgart – Photos by Petra Ballon

You may have already met the sweet cheetah kittens in this magazine but there are more newborn cuties in Wilhelma. Enjoy and fall in love!

First birth since 1979: Small pied tapir as a beacon of hope

Unusual and rare is the offspring of the Sable-tailed Tapir: in nature as well as at Wilhelma. Therefore, the latest news from the Zoological-Botanical Garden is doubly good news. For the first time in 43 years, a young animal of this only Asian species of tapir has been born in Stuttgart. Over the same period, their occurrence in the wild has dropped by about half. So the little one is considered a potential progenitor for the continued existence of its endangered species.

On 10 August, the newborn made its first foray into the fresh air and can now also be seen by visitors. From now on, it will be competing for attention with the cheetah quintuplets that are currently in the limelight. The little character head should also have good chances as a solo entertainer. This is not only due to its mini trunk, which it uses both for grasping and as a snorkel in the water.

The offspring, whose sex is still unknown, does not seem to take after the parents at first glance. Unlike the parents, it does not have the clear black and white colouring that reminds one of a horse blanket and thus gave them their name. Rather, its bright markings consist of dots and broken lines on a dark brown background.

Among the forest dwellers, the irregular pattern is the better camouflage for the peck, which weighs only a few kilos near the ground, while the adults, which weigh up to 50 times as much and are up to 2.50 metres long, are less conspicuous with their black and white fur in the shadows of the tall trees. The change of colour does not begin until they are ten weeks old and takes about three months.

Two yak calves born: High mountain cattle also feel at home in the valley basin

The community at the still young enclosure for Asian ungulates at Wilhelma in Stuttgart, which was completed two years ago, is proving to be very fertile. In spring, the camels in the Zoological-Botanical Garden had their first foal since 2009. Now the fellow camels have filled the nursery.

Both of the Hausyaks’ cows have come down in the past few weeks: now for the second year in a row. Tara and Salome seem to feel at home in the 4000 square metre enclosure – and get along very well with Skunk. He is named after the distinctive white stripe in his otherwise black fur, which may remind you of a skunk. But the family relationships are not easy to see through: It is obvious that Skunk, as the only bull, is the father of all the calves. But to which cow are the young animals to be assigned?

Salome and Sayan

The black and brown Salome had a black and white calf in 2021, whereas the black and white Tara had an all-black calf. Now there is again a colourful mixture with one mono-coloured and one bi-coloured, but in the reverse colour play the calves are this time “completely the mother”. However, some things are repeated: Salome started again and gave birth to a bull calf like in 2021. Tara, who was again a little later, gave birth to a cow calf like last year.

Tara and Pushpa

Cute offspring born to highly endangered Somali wild donkeys

Romping, sleeping, drinking – these are the most important things in the young life of Wilhelma’s little Somali wild donkey at the moment. The little stallion is barely three weeks old and is growing up in the Zoological-Botanical Garden in Stuttgart, protected and cared for. The young donkey is a real treasure for the preservation of its species, because the Somali wild donkey is one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

This is Robert

Here with mama Sina

These two aren’t newborn but they certainly deserve a place in our ‘gallery of cuteness’:

Cashu

I don’t know the name of this lovely fennek so I just call him/her ‘Cute Ears’.