The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are major attractions in San Diego, but they also play a critical role in animal conservation. This brings us baby animals that make zoo trips both educational and adorable.
Over the past six months, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has welcomed many new additions. Most can be seen during your next visit, and they highlight the organization’s critical work.
Furry
In December, twin Andean bears were born and later given the names Ransisku and Suyana. The cubs moved to a public-facing exhibit last month, where they can be seen doing bear things like bonding with their mother and learning to climb trees.
On Christmas Day, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park received a lump of foal — a baby Przewalski’s horse, to be exact. This species was thought to be extinct until 1996, and the new addition is a milestone for conservation efforts. You can observe him at the Safari Park’s Przewalski’s horse exhibit.
In April, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park announced it welcomed another Przewalski’s horse foal. It’s the second born as a result of cloning, proving the technology can be used to support the endangered species. The first successful clone, Kurt, was born in 2020 and also lives at the Safari Park. The new, unnamed foal used the same living cell line as Kurt, making them genetic twins born three years apart.
Spring roared in last month with the birth of twin Amur leopards at the San Diego Zoo — the world’s most endangered big cat species with an estimated global population under 300. The unnamed cubs can be spotted in the Amur leopard exhibit exploring their new habitat.
At the start of June, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park shared some hoppy news: A baby Matschie’s tree kangaroo named Kikori was born, making her the second of the species ever born at the Safari Park. When the joey arrived in August 2022, she was the size of a jellybean. Now, she’s venturing out of her mother’s pouch, learning to climb, and eating solid food. Visitors may be able to see her exploring her habitat at the Walkabout Australia section of the park.
Feathery
Feathery
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, along with the California Condor Recovery Program, has helped the California Condor avoid extinction. In 1982, the species had a population of 22, but now it’s 560 — including a baby born in March — though most of the birds live at a private “condor-minium.”
Condors aren’t the only birds hatching eggs. For the first time in 20 years, masked lapwing chicks were born at the San Diego Zoo. They can be seen at the Australian Outback’s finch aviary exhibit.