Sedgwick County Zoo is brimming with baby animals

January 20, 2012|By Rebecca White | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(WICHITA, Kan.) — An 8-month-old Sumatran orangutan named Kinali peeks out from behind his mother, Daisy, inside of a special play house at the Sedgwick County Zoo.

The two were separated from the other orangutans after Kinali’s mother showed little interest in raising the baby. The Zoo hopes that Daisy’s maternal instinct kicks in soon.

“We did a lot of training with her while she was pregnant,” says Zookeeper Amanda Snyder. “Then once he was born Daisy decided she didn’t want to be so involved so we’re feeding him and working his muscles.”

Kinali is fed a special rice formula from a bottle but doesn’t make it easy for the zookeepers. “When you start feeding him,” says Snyder, “in the middle of it he’ll want to play.”

The Sedgwick County Zoo is brimming with other baby animals.

Six African wild dog pups run and play as their parents watch. These seven pound spotted dogs are native to Africa. They are becoming extinct because they are subject to some diseases like distemper and because people are moving into their habitat according to Jan Nelson, the Mammal Keeper at the Zoo.

The pups will be on display for about a year before they are moved out to other zoos.

Click here to see photos.

Recently, the Sedgwick County Zoo is has become the love nest for breeding pelicans. Three pelicans are behind the scenes, ranging from a few days old to a few weeks. Several more pelican eggs are waiting to hatch soon.

The birds are aggressive and fight over resources. “The usually lay one egg,” says Scott Newland, Senior Keeper of Birds. “If they lay two, if both of them hatch, typically one of the kids will fight and kill one of each other off.”

For that reason the Zoo removes the eggs and incubates them.

You can visit the babies at the Zoo from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. all week long. The Zoo is offering $2.50 admission for “Winter Wednesdays” through February.

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