Animal baby boom Brunch like a boss

WHILE the world’s been in lockdown, animals around the country have been getting busy birthing a sway of cute, cuddly (and not so cuddly) critters.

Keepers at Melbourne Zoo have had to double as baby-catchers, with the state enjoying a “baby boom” of otters, snow leopard cubs and a cotton-top tamarin monkeys. Victoria’s Healesville Sanctuary also saw their female baby platypus, Storm, emerge from her burrow for the first time and Chimbu the baby tree kangaroo has been entertaining staff with his new-found hopping skills — using his mother’s tail as a skipping rope.

“We love our zoo babies and this year there has been a bit of a baby boom, which has been wonderful, especially for the endangered species that are part of vital breeding programs. That’s been the case with our small-clawed Asian otter pups and our snow leopard cubs,” Zoos Victoria chief executive Dr Jenny Gray said.

“I can’t get enough of the otter pups. We’ve been watching their parents giving them swimming lessons. They are just so adorable, so full of personality.”

NSW and WA have also become otterly-obsessed of late, with Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Perth Zoo both welcoming litters of Asian smallclawed otter pups in April.

And just like we’ve been hosting Zoom meetings, the otters at Taronga rose to the social distancing challenge, allowing keepers to watch the birth via CCTV cameras.

Taronga Zoo Sydney has been treated to double the joy with the birth of twins Santiago and Matteo, two critically endangered cotton-top tamarin monkeys.

The twins have spent much of their life being cared for by their dad and older brother, with male tamarins often doing the lion’s share of the parenting.

Of course, if you’re going to be born during a global pandemic, it’s only fitting to be named accordingly.

There’s Quilton, the hamadryas baboon born at Melbourne Zoo on March 10, at the peak of Australia’s toilet paper hoarding crisis, while king penguin chick Quentin Quarantino earned his coronavirus-inspired moniker after Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium ran a naming competition.

If you want to get involved in the fun, Taronga Zoo is running a similar contest to name its male hippo calf. Stay tuned to the zoo’s social media for details.