Rare orangutans, trumpeters and beaded lizards: the Moscow Zoo collection replenished this year

Over 1,000 young were born in the Moscow Zoo in 2019. Among them are African ground hornbills, common trumpeters, Humboldt penguins, Kirk's dik-diks, Eurasian lynx, East Caucasian turs, crocodile newts and other animals. Sumatran orangutans, bharals, Mexican beaded lizards, fur seals and lion-tailed macaques had their offspring, too.

Birds are leading in the number of the young. The Moscow Zoo's collection has been replenished with 287 chicks. Specialists were lucky to get African ground hornbill's offspring. Ornithologists hand-fed three fledgling crows — Socrates, Bruno and Plato. Late in summer, they moved to the Zoo's display. In autumn, they were transferred to a warm aviary in the Bird House. Also, thanks to painstaking efforts of zoologists, the Zoo got two black stork chicks and four Guinea turacos.

Greater and American flamingos had an addition, too. Unlike adult birds, seven chicks have greyish plumage. Flamingos will acquire their typical pink or red colour only after several moults. You can see these beautiful long-legged birds in the aviary on the Big Pond.

Rare common trumpeters hatched their chicks this year, too. These birds rarely breed, since male and female do not always accept each other. Sometimes it is difficult to make a good couple of them, as trumpeters are susceptible to external stimuli and stresses.

Ornithologists had to take an egg away and place it in a special incubator, so that the birds did not break it. You can see the cheery young trumpeter in the Bird House pavilion. Four Humboldt penguin and three African penguin chicks live there, too.

Besides, steppe eagles, snowy owls, Dalmatian and great white pelicans and some other birds got chicks in 2019.

The family of Sumatran orangutans has also grown. This is one of the rarest primate species on the planet. In the wild, they live only on Sumatra, a large Indonesian island. Look for the aviary with Sumatran orangutans in the new part of the Moscow Zoo.

This summer, a female heading a family group of meerkats gave birth to three pups. All group members can take part in the upbringing of pups, but only one dominant female can bear the young. Meerkats live in the old part of the Zoo in the African Ungulates pavilion. In spring, rare African dik-dik antelopes had their young in the same pavilion. They have one baby. Another dik-dik was born late in November.

In total, in 2019, 185 babies were born to mammals living in the Zoo. Among them are two Eurasian lynx, one Japanese macaque, one fur seal, one bharal, ten East Caucasian turs, six markhoors, one Sichuan takin, one lion-tailed macaque, and others.

Amphibians had 33 babies. The zoo’s collection has been replenished with two crocodile newts, three green toads, four yellow-bellied toads and three Asian horned frogs.

Besides, visitors to the Moscow Zoo are welcome to observe how reptiles develop and grow. Representatives of this animal class have had 62 babies this year. Zoologists were happy to get a rare Mexican beaded lizard's baby. It is not easy to have their offspring born in captivity. Nevertheless, Moscow Zoo team managed to create comfortable conditions for beaded lizards and make their couple. Watch this poisonous lizard growing in the Terrarium pavilion. The reptile collection has also been supplemented by the Reisinger's tree monitor, rough-scaled plated lizard, knob-scale lizard, and leaf-tailed gecko.

'The expiring year has been fruitful for us. The birth rate has exceeded the previous one (about 800 offspring in 2018). This was made possible thanks to the professional animal care and the use of advanced techniques in handling different species. Each Zoo inhabitant enjoys a balanced diet, timely treatment, as well as physical and mental exercises. Today, the collection boasts about 12,000 animals. Over 1,200 of them are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species or red-listed in Russia,' said Svetlana Akulova, Director General of the Moscow Zoo.

Besides, the Moscow Zoo has received rare animals from other Russian and foreign zoos. The arrival of two giant pandas from China has become the Zoo’s major event of the passing year. Ru Yi and Ding Ding have arrived to the Moscow Zoo within the program for giant panda preservation, protection and research. They will live in the Zoo for 15 years. Giant Panda is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Vulnerable.  Giant pandas live in some provinces of China, in particular in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and in Tibet.

The Zoo's collection boasts another treasure, a rare bird from tropical Islands — Bali starling. According to ornithologists, there are no more than several dozen Bali starlings in the wild. Three female birds arrived in Moscow from the Warsaw Zoo. The following year, ornithologists are to bring male Bali starlings to make a couple and get offspring.

This year, the arrival of golden lion-headed tamarins, binturong, maned wolf and bush dog were long-awaited events. The latter two animals came as part of the European Population Programme to make breeding couples. Zoologists have already managed to couple bush dogs, Witzli and Freya, and maned wolves Falcao and Emilia. It is hoped that the next year visitors will have an opportunity to admire the puppies of these rare species.

A separate collection of domestic animals has been formed for the opening of the Petting Zoo located on the Zoo’s grounds. It features many rare and unusual breeds, including mammoth donkeys (or Poitou donkeys), Border Leicester sheep with funny rabbit-like ears, Welsh sheep, highland cow, Jacob goat, and others. The Petting Zoo will also display Silkie, Oryol and Pavlov chickens, as well as other breeds.

The Moscow Zoo will be open daily during the January holidays. On the New Year's eve, on 31 December, you can visit giant pandas, Asian elephants, East Caucasian turs, polar bears and other animals 09:00 am till 03:00 pm.  On this day, the Zoo is to close an hour earlier. 1 to 8 January, it will be open daily 09:00 am till 05:00 pm. Visitors can buy a ticket at the ticket office and enter the Park until 04:00 pm. 25 December till 8 January, there will be tours and lectures about the winter life of the Zoo's inhabitants.