Echidna baby captures hearts
Birth of threatened tiny, spiny Australian species has US safari park bristling with pride
FOR the first time in its history, an echidna baby, or puggle as they are called, hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in the US.
The tiny, spiny Australian species has small eyes and a distinctive beak or snout.
It is still developing its protective spines, and it is moving around on its wobbly little legs as it grows and gains strength, using its sharp claws to dig into the ground and keep its balance.
“We are thrilled and excited to welcome our first echidna puggle at the park,” said wildlife care specialist Savanna Smith.
“It is an honour to care for this little one, as we learn more about this species’ reproduction through this puggle’s hatching. Mom and puggle are doing extremely well, and we will continue to monitor the puggle’s progress until it is ready to venture out on its own.”
The puggle’s mother, Orange, and father, Shaw, also reside at the park.
Echidnas are solitary animals, with adult males and females only coming together to breed once a year.
About four weeks after conception, the mother lays a single, soft egg about the size of a grape and places it in a pouch on her abdomen. After seven to 10 days, a tiny, naked puggle, smaller than a jelly bean, hatches.
The puggle uses its tiny, seethrough claws to grip the special hairs within the mother’s pouch.
The mother does not have nipples, the way other mammals do. Instead, the little puggle laps up milk that the mother’s body secretes from special glands in her pouch.
Once the puggle starts to develop spiky spines at about six to eight weeks, the mother deposits it in a specially constructed nursery burrow, returning to feed it every three to six days.
It is hoped that the short-beaked echidna puggle’s hatching will help unravel some of the mysteries of echidna reproduction, and provide vital information to help save the long-beaked echidna from extinction.
“The echidna puggle will remain out of public view until further notice, but guests may see adult echidnas in the animal ambassador area at Walkabout Australia or on a Roos and Mates Behind-the-Scenes Safari, when they become available at the park.
“Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global,” it said.