Welcome arrival of rare baby

Zoo welcomes endangered Addax

THOUGHT to be extinct, or close to extinct, in the wild, the arrival of a baby Addax at the Darling Downs Zoo is being celebrated by animal conservationists.

The female Addax was born on Sunday at the zoo to a firsttime mother.

Also known as the white antelope, Addax were originally found in the Sahara desert, but are now listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as critically endangered.

Zoo director Stephanie Robinson said the animal could possibly be extinct in the wild.

“The last search for any was in 2016 and researchers only managed to find three in the wild,” she said.

“For us it’s exciting. Antelope are not usually a species people think about when going to zoo, but for us, they are extremely important because of their conservation value.

“This is the second one we’ve bred, the first was a couple of years ago. The mother of the first one is heavily pregnant herself and due soon so it shouldn’t be long before we have a couple of these cuties around.”

The baby Addax isn’t the only recent arrival at the zoo.

Last month a young pygmy hippo called Kamina moved to the zoo from Sydney.

“There are only five left in Australia,” Ms Robinson said.

“There’s a very small range left in the wild in northern Africa at the moment, so they’re endangered in the wild.

“(Pygmy hippos) have a very different lifestyle to the hippo everyone is familiar with.”

The Darling Downs Zoo is at Pilton, south of Toowoomba, and is open every day except Christmas Day.

Photos: Darling Downs Zoo NEW ARRIVAL: The baby Addax with its mother.

Kamina the Pygmy Hippopotamus recently arrived at the zoo, aged 18 months, from Sydney.

The baby Addax is part of a wider breeding program for the animal.