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The Scottish seasons are becoming more and more difficult to decipher; sometimes summer can bring days of scorching sun, whilst other days bring monstrous hailstones and sheets of rain. However, there is one consistent indicator that summer has truly arrived, aside from the midges, and that is when the baby boom starts. Due to the fact that we have large herds of animals within the hoofed stock section, it is pretty much guaranteed that we will welcome the arrival of a number of delightful babies over the course of each breeding season.
It is always a joyful and exciting time. As I drive to work, I am always excited to see whether any of our girls have given birth to the next generation. As we all go off to do the morning checks, I get butterflies when I realise there is a new face to be counted. With each new arrival, the first thing we do is try to get a look at the youngster, to check that it’s moving and appears healthy, whilst keeping a respectful distance. This is followed by a radio call to my head keeper, Morag, with an update.
With most of our hoofed stock we carry out a post-natal care procedure. This involves catching the new born in order to sex it, performing a basic health check, administering relevant vaccinations, micro-chipping and tagging for accurate identification and spraying iodine on the umbilical cord to reduce the chance of infection. Although this sounds like a lot for a young animal to endure, it is all necessary to give the baby the best start in life and to comply with zoo legislation. We must also carry out the procedure whilst the little one is not yet quick on its legs in order for us to be able to catch it! Believe it or not, most of the gangly, unsteady babies become sprinting athletes within a few days of life. Although I'm quite sure it would be humorous to observe us keepers running, and likely falling, all over the paddocks whilst chasing after these speedy little critters, it would be unlikely to be effective and cause the animals unnecessary stress. Therefore, after allowing the mother to clean and bond with her new born, we make sure this procedure is carried out in the first few days of life.
Due to the fact that the babies are so young when we carry out the procedure, we aim to be as quick and efficient as possible, so that the little one can be immediately reunited with its mother. We would never want to interfere with the relationship between mother and baby, nor cause the mother to become too distressed. As soon as the procedure is complete, we take the little one back over to its mother; sometimes this involves turning the baby around a few times so it is a little disorientated, as they will occasionally follow us instead of their mother, despite everything it has just been through! We then leave the enclosure and have a very hands-off approach with the animals once again. We record everything we know about the new born and it is given an identification number. We then monitor the baby and its mother closely over the following days to ensure it is suckling well and that both mother and baby appear healthy.
(Tahr kid (born to Chandra on 18th June) is about to undergo the birthing procedure)
Then comes the most important bit… the name! For some species we have themes, for instance the Turkmenian markhor born at the Park are all named after plants, such as Nettle and Bramble. The Himalayan Tahr all have Himalayan names, often with meanings relevant to that individual, such as Chandra, which means ‘moon’ because she is paler in colour. The European bison calves are all named after Scottish glens. For other species, we simply battle it out between ourselves over who loves that particular species the most, or if we can’t agree, we put our suggestions into a hat. Occasionally, we allow our interns to name new arrivals as reward for their hard work, but only if we are in a generous mood!
(Bukhara calf has had the birthing procedure done, he is about to be let go.)
We have been delighted to welcome a number of cheeky infants to the collection already this year, including twin European elk calves, two European bison calves, which were born only hours apart, as well as two male Przewalski’s horse foals, to name but a few. They can be seen on the main reserve, along with a large number of deer calves that you’ll no doubt see prancing around their doting mothers. With all these bandy legs, big eyes and over-sized ears, along with the lush vegetation that has erupted throughout the Park, the summer truly is the most wonderful time of year to work here, even if the weather doesn’t always reflect the word “summer” as I would perhaps like it to!
Until next time...
Gemma