Baby Boomz for Singapore Wildlife

One thing I am sure of... the baby bonus is effective for animals in the Singapore!

More than 400 animal babies were born in Wildlife Reserves Singapore's (WRS) four parks between January and August, including Asia's first giant river otter baby.

The yet unnamed male pup was born on Aug 10 at the River Safari, said WRS, which today celebrates World Animal Day. It weighs 1.6kg and measures 60cm now, but can grow to a length of 1.8m and weigh up to 34kg.

Found in South American rivers, giant otters are among the rarest otters in the world, often hunted extensively for their fur and threatened by the loss of their natural habitat. Other animals born in Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo this year include threatened species such as the orang utan, manatee and malayan tapir.

Through the years, WRS parks have exchanged many of these animals with other reputable zoos for breeding purposes. "With increasing threats such as habitat destruction and poaching, captive breeding programmes play a pivotal role in conserving threatened species for our future generations," said WRS' chief life sciences officer, Dr Cheng Wen-Haur.

This one month old squirrel monkey clings on to it's mother's back at River Safari's Squirrel Monkey Forest.

Asia's 1st Giant River Otter Baby: This 'otter-ly' cute baby was born on 10 August, just after Singapore's National Day.

Male manatee Sundae, born on 19 May, swims with his 22-year-old mother, Eva, at River Safari's Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit.

Malayan tapir Putri, born on 3 June, have stripes (resembling a watermelon) to act as camouflage the forest. It is one of the most endangered animals in SE-Asia.

Joko, a male Bornean orang utan born on 21 January, clings on to his mom, Miri, at the Singapore Zoo.

Born on 17 August, this baby Linne’s two-toed sloth wraps itself around its mother, Alba.

Big Bundle of Joy: Born on 27 April, Zina, a white rhino, walks next to her mother Donsa at Singapore Zoo’s Wild Africa zone.

This baby squirrel monkey is 1 month old.

Baby porcupines, or porcupettes, have soft quills at birth which harden within a few days. This porcupette was born on 1 Sept at Night Safari.

New Panda born

Giant panda Mei Xiang gives birth at Washington's national zoo

Zookeepers say giant pandas give birth to twins 50% of the time, so they will keep an eye on Mei Xiang for 24 hours

A giant panda gave birth at Washington's national zoo on Friday, causing a buzz among fans as they flocked to a panda cam's live feed to hear the cub squeal and watch the mother immediately start caring for it.

The zoo said Mei Xiang gave birth two hours after her water broke. Zoo officials said the panda team heard the cub vocalize and that the mother picked it up immediately and began cradling and caring for it.

"We have a cub!! Born at 5.32pm this evening," the zoo tweeted.

"I'm glued to the new panda cams and thrilled to hear the squeals, which appear healthy, of our newborn cub," said Dennis Kelly, director of the Smithsonian's national zoo.

Fans of the 15-year-old panda who had been tracking her suspected pregnancy on a Giant Panda Cam flocked to the live feed.

With the zoo heralding the cub's birth on Twitter, the pandas' excited fans responded in kind. Congratulations poured in under the hashtag "cubwatch," including hopes that this year's cub would survive. "Last year was so heartbreaking," as one person tweeted, while another said, "Good luck, little Butterstick 2 !!!"

Mei Xiang had previously given birth to two cubs. Tai Shan was born in 2005 and a week-old cub died last September.

Panda cubs are especially delicate and vulnerable to infection and other illness. They are about the size of a stick of butter at birth. The first weeks of life are critical for the cubs as mothers have to make sure they stay warm and get enough to eat.

Zookeepers said at a news conference on Friday night that giant pandas give birth to twins 50 percent of the time, so they will continue to keep an eye on Mei Xiang for 24 hours.

Brandie Smith, curator of mammals at the zoo, said Friday night that mindful of last year's loss, zookeepers will be more hands-on with this cub.

"We know that Mei Xiang is an excellent mother," Smith said. "When she has a cub, she will take care of it."

Smith said that will zookeepers don't want to disturb the bonding between the mother and cub, but they will take the risk and do an assessment of the cub within the first 48 hours.

The biggest concern is the cub's weight, Smith said, and that it continues to gain weight. Zookeepers will also be listening for healthy squeals from the cub, and signs and sounds that it is nursing.

The panda team will perform health checks every few days. Its gender was not immediately known.

Mei Xiang is expected to spend almost all of her time in her den for the next two weeks with her new cub.

The zoo has been on round-the-clock panda watch since August 7, when Mei Xiang began showing behavioral changes consistent with a pregnancy or pseudo-pregnancy.

A Chinese panda expert performed artificial inseminations on Mei Xiang on March 30 after she failed to breed naturally with male panda Tian Tian.

Zookeepers had not been certain that Mei Xiang was pregnant, because she refused to cooperate with attempts to perform an ultrasound.

The David M Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, which has been closed to the public since August 2, will remain closed to provide quiet time for Mei Xiang and her cub.