Chester Zoo celebrates the arrival of rare baby rock hyraxes
The six-week-old pups, named Russ, Spud and Jackie, were first shown to the public this week. They’re tiny, weighing just 350 grams, and staff say visitors are delighted to spot them in their enclosure.
Three tiny baby rock hyraxes are delighting visitors and keepers at a zoo in northern England. -
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For their first public outing the female and two male pups Russ, Spud and Jackie stuck close to mum, but it soon they're darting around their enclosure at Chester Zoo in the north of England.
Staff at Chester say they resemble 'spuds' so their names are all related to potatoes.
The pups are now 6 weeks old, but still just weigh just 350 grammes.
They've been meeting the public after getting their clean bill of health.
Lyndon Howson, Assistant Team Manager, Chester Zoo says they're already a source of joy for visitors.
"A lot of visitors seem to be very excited when they spot them for the first time because you're looking in there, you're picturing this large mammal, and then when you see the rock hyrax, the adult, they go, oh, is that the baby? And then we're like, no, no. If you look just beside it and then just beside it, out pops one of the little, pups and honestly, it's amazing just seeing the excitement from visitors when they get to see them from the first time. It just makes it really special," says Howson.
The visitors are also making a bit of a discovery: Did you know that rock hyraxes share their evolution with the elephant our largest land mammal and with manatees.
Look closely at their toes for instance and Howson says their teeth grow like tusks.
"They come from the same evolutionary group as elephants, as well as also the sirenians. So this is a family of aquatic mammals, very similar to dugongs and also manatees, and what's really unique as well about the rock hyrax is in a very similar way to elephants, with their tusks continually growing, the rock hyrax, their front incisors will actually continually keep growing as well. So it's a very similar trait they've inherited from being a part of the same family group," says Howson.
He says the hyraxes aren't often bred in zoos, and have a long gestation period for their size, according to the African Wildlife Foundation a hyrax pregnancy lasts around 7 to 8 months.
Howson says the animals are breeding successfully in the wild: "When it comes to rock hyrax they've adapted specifically for life within boulders, within small crevices across the cliff faces. So they've adapted in a unique way for themselves to survive in the area, which they're thriving."
Zoo staff are now looking forward to large family gatherings with mum and dad parents Maris and Albert at the helm in the future.
Howson says: "Purely just when it comes down to potentially the housing requirements, how potentially they're bred. So sometimes some organizations might not actively actually want to breed this species. However, for ourselves, we're really lucky. We have wanted to breed them. We have been very successful because rock hyrax, they are a very social species and they can live into a large group, upwards of 26 individuals. So it'll be really nice to see this family unit for quite some time."