Zoo Babies Month begins at Cincinnati Zoo

CINCINNATI — Zoo Babies Month kicks off today at the Cincinnati Zoo, marking the 36th year the zoo has highlighted the babies and expectant moms.

Throughout the month of May, the zoo will mark the locations of babies and expectant moms with large signs, according to our news partners at WCPO.

“Apparently there was a good amount of monkey business going on during the pandemic,” said Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard in a release on the zoo’s website. “There are babies all over the Zoo.  Reptiles, mammals, insects, and lots of birds!”

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The Cincinnati Zoo has welcomed a number of new additions recently including a baby wallaby named Zip, who got his name from a fan vote on the zoo’s Facebook page.

In addition to Zip, the zoo welcomed two new blue penguins in January. Mars and Rover, named after NASA’s Mars landing, just recently joined their colony in the zoo’s new penguin habitat, Roo Valley.

“No question that baby animals are adorable, but they’re also great ambassadors for their species,” said Maynard. “They can inspire visitors to care about their wild counterparts and take action to protect them.”

One bird is in training to become an ambassador. Ori, a Verreaux’s eagle owl that hatched in March, is in training for his public debut at this year’s Wings of Wonder Bird Encounter.

The zoo said it has a goal to make it’s animal population as generically diverse and healthy as possible. Because of that, expert matchmakers from Association of Zoos and Aquariums and Species Survival Plan work together to decide which animals should be matched for breeding.

Zoo Babies runs through May 31. The event is free with regular admission.

Cox Media Group