Spring babies arrive at Hamilton Zoo

The arrival of spring has also meant the arrival of several baby animals at Hamilton Zoo – with the facility celebrating the birth of twin ring-tailed lemurs and the hatching of two morepork chicks this month.

The twin ring-tailed lemurs, whose genders are not yet known, were born to mother Yetta on 17 October, with Zoo Curator Samantha Kudeweh reporting that the pair is doing well.

“The twins are already quite active and have been out and about, socialising with the wider lemur group,” she says.

Meanwhile, the two morepork chicks are believed to have hatched on 12 October and are yet to venture out of their nest box.

“Morepork chicks tend to leave the nest at around 5-6 weeks, however they might possibly be seen peering out over the next few weeks,” said Mrs Kudeweh.

“With morepork being New Zealand’s only surviving native owl species, it is exciting to welcome these chicks at Hamilton Zoo and I am sure they’ll steal the hearts of zoo visitors once they decide to venture out of the nest.”

The chicks’ parents are both wild birds which were brought into Hamilton Zoo by members of the public after being found injured – the female sustained an eye injury and the male fell out of a nest as a young bird.

Note for editors:

About morepork
Morepork are thought to still be reasonably common, however their population is in decline due to habitat destruction and predation from introduced pests such as stoats and rats.
Morepork nest in holes and their diet includes small birds and mammals including mice and bats.

About ring-tailed lemurs
Lemurs are native to the African Island of Madagascar. Ring-tailed lemurs are the most terrestrial species and form the largest social groups of the many lemur species found on the island.

The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘near threatened’ and has undergone a marked population decrease in the last 25 years due to habitat destruction and exploitation by humans.