Perth Zoo baby echidnas

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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Baby echidnas born at Perth Zoo a world-first - Yahoo!7 Technology
13 December 2012

Perth Zoo has welcomed two baby echidnas, in what has been described as a world-first breeding milestone.

The two babies, known as puggles, have been named Nyingarn (Nyoongar for echidna) and Babbin (Nyoongar for friend).

They are the first to be bred from zoo-born echidnas and are also the first known offspring to be born to four-year-old mothers.

Environment Minister Bill Marmion says the births have shed new light on echidna reproduction.

"Until now, it was believed female echidnas did not breed until the age of five, so these latest births have shed new light on echidna reproduction," he said.

Mr Marmion said the births and other data gathered through video surveillance and research is helping to uncover the secrets of echidna behaviour and reproduction.

"This in turn may help conserve the Short-beaked Echidna's endangered cousin, the Long-beaked Echidna, which is facing extinction in the the wild in New Guinea," he said.

Mr Marmion said only 24 echidnas have been bred in captivity in Australia and Perth Zoo has produced eight of these.
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Baby echidnas looking sharp at Perth Zoo | The Courier-Mail
11 March 2013


THEY weighed less than a gram when they hatched, but Perth Zoo's two baby echidnas are growing into their spikes.

The baby short-beaked echidnas now tip the scales at more than a kilogram but they have plenty more growing to do and could reach up to 7kg, zoo keepers say.

Babbin and Nyingarn gained world attention late last year as the first young - or puggles - successfully bred from zoo-born echidnas. Their four-year-old mothers, Mila and Chindi, were also born at Perth Zoo.

The puggles spent their first two months in their mothers' pouches before nestling into their nursery burrows and are just starting to venture out to explore their surroundings.

The zoo has 15 echidnas, eight of them born at the facility.

Echidnas have no major predators in the wild due to their spines, but dingoes sometimes eat them.



Perth Zoo Australian fauna supervisor Belinda Turner said on Monday the zoo's successful echidna breeding program was helping experts learn more about echidna behaviour and breeding.

An international echidna workshop is currently being held at Perth Zoo to discuss their reproductive behaviour and increase their breeding success at other zoos.
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What an impressive achievement, if only every zoo could be so successful with them :)
 
I dont know why they say they have no major predators, but Dingos sometimes eat them.
I have not found one myself but I have seen photos of wild dog/dingos den sites and they are always surrounded by Echidna skins.
 
New or old, it' none the less an impressive achievement in modern husbandry for this species after years of studying and hard research.
 
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