Tiny pygmy marmosets and twin Carpathian lynx cubs are the newest arrivals at Dudley Zoological Gardens in the United Kingdom.
The marmoset twins were born on June 19th to mum Pam. This is the second lot of babies for her and papa, Hendrix. They have twins last October after they were brought together as a new family. These boys were named Duncan and Edward after a prominent footballer who hails from Dudley,
It will be a few weeks before these bubs are big enough to have their gender and names determined.
Dudley Zoo has been hugely successful in breeding this species, which is the world’s smallest monkey. Pam came to the zoo from Dublin so that a new group could be established.
On May 20 a pair of Carpathian lynx twins were born. Until this week they had been tucked up in their den with their mother, Daisy. Recently they have begun to journey out into their paddock.
Jay Haywood, Team leader at the zoo said, “We are thrilled with the cubs’ progress. Both mum and the babies are healthy and doing well and it’s exciting to see the cubs coming out to explore the great outdoors.”
Daisy and father, Dave are second time parents. Last year they gave birth to triplets, Dom, Daphne and Dick. They were the first Carpathian lynx born at the zoo. As the new cubs grow they are taking on some responsibility to help raise the pair.
Haywood added that, “We’ve got a few more weeks to wait until we find out what sex they are and name them. We’ll do this when we give them their first vaccinations at nine weeks.”
Registrar and Research co-ordinator for Dudley Zoo, Dr David Beeston said, “We’ve held Eurasian lynx for many years at DZG but Daisy and Dave were our first ever pair of Carpathians. The latest births are proof of the important role the parents are playing in the breeding programme for this rare subspecies, and it’s wonderful news.”
Dave came from Salzburg Zoo in Austria during August 2012 and at the same time Daisy travelled from Zoo Veszprem in Hungray. These moves were carried out as part of the European Conservaton Programme for this species.
Photo Credit: Dudley Zoological Gardens
