Zoo babies celebrate Mother’s Day
ANIMAL mums in Dublin Zoo will be the stars of the show this Mother's Day.
The zoo's latest arrival, Neema, a three-month-old baby giraffe, will be helping her mum, Jenny, and lots of human mums, to celebrate the day in style.
The past 12 months have been an extremely busy and exciting time for Dublin Zoo, with a number of significant births occurring throughout the year.
Elephant mum Yasmin gave birth to Budi, the first elephant bull calf born in Dublin Zoo, early last year. Then, the Zoo welcomed a seal to mum Ciara. The notable baby boom continued with the exciting arrival of a rhino calf, Zuki, to mother Ashanti.
Last November then saw the arrival of Diago, a beautiful tapir, an endangered species originating from South America, born to proud mother Hillary. And Dublin Zoo's latest arrival, little female giraffe Neema, was born on January 4 this yea. She can be seen with her very happy mother, Jenny.
pampered
"Obviously our mums are quite well pampered, so we won't be treating them to anything special this Sunday. Although, the elephants might get a few extra bananas," the zoo's head of marketing, Veronica Chrisp, told the Herald.
"All the animals are given treats every day, so Sunday will be no different. Although, if it's a nice day, the elephants will get an extra special hose down in the habitat. They like to go for a swim then with the babies, it's a really wonderful sight," said Veronica.
And the zoo babies are going from strength to strength.
"They're all doing brilliantly. Our rhino calf Zuki will be a year old in June. Our little bull elephant Budi is now just over a year old and is just full of mischief and fun."
Staff at the Zoo are now keeping their fingers crossed for new arrivals this year.
"We are really hopeful that we will have tiger cubs this year -- but there's nothing concrete yet," added Veronica.
jlast@herald.ie
- Jane Last
