Page 30 - Brookfield Zoo Chicago Annual_Report_2024

ANIMAL ARRIVALS

Grey Seal Birth

A grey seal pup was born on
February 17, 2024, to Georgette
and Kiinaq, who are both rescued
SHORT-BEAKED ECHIDNA
grey seals deemed non-releasable
back to the wild. Georgette is fully
blind in the left eye and functionally

blind in her right eye, yet even so, Fostered Penguin Chick Another Echidna Puggle
GREY SEAL
she was a very attentive mother
On May 28, 2024, a Humboldt The second short-beaked echidna
to her pup, later named Mikey,
penguin egg hatched under the baby, or puggle, to hatch at the
HUMBOLDT locating him with a keen sense of
care of veteran foster parents Zoo was born on June 9, 2024,
PENGUIN smell and repertoire of vocalizations.
Rosie and Divot. After the egg to Waddles and Pokey. Echidnas
With both parents being of wild was transferred from Columbus are one of only two mammals that
descent, Mikey is helping to increase Zoo and Aquarium in a specially lay eggs (the other being the
the genetic diversity of the grey seal designed incubator, Divot and duck-billed platypus). The mother
population in accredited North Rosie incubated the egg and lays an egg and deposits it in a pouch
American zoos and aquariums. cared for the hatched chick, on her belly, and it hatches 10 to
As of 2024, there are only 22 grey later named Timmy. 11 days later. The puggle is tiny,
seals in seven accredited U.S. zoos with hairless, semi-translucent skin.
In their wild environment along the
and aquariums. With Mikey’s birth, It is carried in its mother’s pouch
Pacific coastlines of Peru and Chile,
Brookfield Zoo Chicago cared for for up to several months.
Humboldt penguins care for their
the largest group with six individuals.
young for 70 to 90 days before
In the late fall of 2024, he was
swimming off to sea, leaving chicks
transferred to another Association
to begin life on their own. At the Zoo,
of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facility
animal care specialists assisted
on a breeding recommendation.
Timmy and his foster parents with
At birth, grey seals are born with silky the transition by taking over feeding
white fur called lanugo (pronounced before he reached 70 days old.
la-NOO-go) that molts at about a
The collaborative effort between
month old. The species has one of
the zoos is part of the AZA Species
the shortest nursing periods among
Survival Plan (SSP) for Humboldt
the pinnipeds (web-footed marine
EMERALD penguins, which aims to sustain
mammals). In the wild, grey seal pups
TREE populations of the vulnerable
need to grow quickly because once
MONITOR species. Humboldt penguins
weaned they are on their own.
are listed as vulnerable on the
International Union for Conservation
of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.