Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium - Breeding

Breeding

On September 12, 1999, one of the Zoo's female African elephants, Moja, successfully gave birth to a female calf, later named Victoria. This was a major feat for the Zoo, because Victoria was the first African elephant to be born and survive in North America since 1982. Also, she was the first to be born to a captive-born mother. A second calf, a male named Callee, was born to another female named Savannah almost exactly one year later on September 19, 2000. The father of both of these calves is a bull named Jackson, who is currently the only male African breeding naturally in North America. Both Moja and Savannah became pregnant again in 2006. On July 9, 2008 Savannah gave birth to a female calf named Angelina. Moja gave birth to a female as well on July 25, 2008. This calf has been named Zuri.

On August 8, 2006 the Zoo's female Amur tiger, Toma, gave birth to a litter of three cubs. This is also a major accomplishment because Amurs are endangered, and every successful litter counts a great deal. Although one of the cubs died of a heart defect in September (a female named Nadya), the other two are healthy and doing well. The surviving cubs are a male named Petya and a female named Mara.

Another Amur tiger cub was born to Toma on May 11, 2008. The male cub, Grom (name meaning Thunder for he was born during a thunderstorm), had been taken from his mother because Toma was not being very attentive to him. Handlers later determined that it is most likely because Toma is not producing enough milk, if any at all. On September 12, 2008 the baby cub was named after Billy Ray Cyrus, the country music and television star. Zoo representatives said the donors who paid to name the cub “Billy Ray” wanted to honor a late family member who was a big Cyrus fan.

Billy Ray will likely grow up to be about 11 feet long and weigh 450 pounds, according to the Zoo.

In 2010, three cubs were again born to Toma, and to Taiga their father. All three are doing very well at the zoo. Toma is caring for all three.

On June 13, 2009 a baby sea lion was born. Other recent birthes include two North American river otters and a pair of baby beavers.

On October 25, 2009, Vega, one of the Zoo's African painted dogs gave birth to a litter of nine puppies. Vega died the next day, leaving her puppies orphaned. To help nurse and raise the dogs, the Zoo found a domesticated dog from a local shelter who had recently given birth and was still lactating. This mutt, named Honey, immediately took to the puppies and weaned them. At the same time, the Zoo's vet staff hand-fed to puppies a liquid diet fortified with enzymes. Although four of the puppies died - the mortality rate for African Painted Dogs is 50 percent, even in the best of conditions - the remaining five are healthy and doing well at the Zoo.