Giant anteater born at Florida zoo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 19 (UPI) -- Stella-Abril, a 13-year-old giant anteater at the Jacksonville, Fla., Zoo, has become a mother for the fifth time, zoo officials said.

Zoo officials said the baby's sex won't be known until it is older and the right to name the infant will be auctioned off next month, the Jacksonville (Fla.) Times-Union reported.

The baby was born Feb. 22. His father is named Killroy. The mother and baby are on display at the River's Edge exhibit, where the infant spends its time clinging to its mother's back.

Naming rights will be auctioned off at the zoo's annual ExZOOberation fundraiser on April 16.

Zoo officials said giant anteater births in captivity are relatively rare.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/03/19/Giant-anteater-born-at-Florida-zoo/UPI-30731300547266/#ixzz1JTt756GT

Thinking of enjoying the movie but confused where to stay in - book yourself one of the Florida villas or Orlando villas for your Florida vacations and have a great time partying and enjoying here.

Rescued sea cows released into bay

Three manatees, two of which nearly froze to death in the chilly coastal waters of west central Florida last winter and the third from the previous winter, have warmed up and were released into Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

The trio of cold-stressed sea cows were plucked from the rehabilitation tank at the Lowry Park Zoo and taken to Apollo Beach, where they were released.

The manatees, named TECO 2, Turner and Bartlett, had been rehabbing at the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital at the zoo, recovering from cold-water stress during last winter's record cold spell.

Save the Manatee Club officials estimated that more than 300 manatees -- about 12 percent of the sea mammals' Florida population -- perished in the cold last winter. Before then, the record number of manatee deaths attributed to the cold in any given year was 56.

Several dozen were rescued from the frigid waters and have undergone rehab at various facilities around the state.

TECO 2 is a young adult male rescued near the TECO power plant in March 2009.

He weighed just 270 pounds at the time and, at not-quite 1, he was too young to be separated from his mother, who was nowhere to be found.

Turner is a young adult female rescued from Turner Creek in January after biologists determined she was cold stressed. She weighed about 400 pounds at the time.

Bartlett was rescued near Bartlett Park in St. Petersburg and has traveled extensively since she was pulled out of the water in January.

After her initial rescue, she was taken to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

After gaining strength and weight, to about 600 pounds, Bartlett was shipped to Lowry Park Zoo.

Step out from your florida villas and have a look at these amazing creatures

Pygmy hippopotamus born at Zoo Miami

At Florida's Zoo Miami, the recent birth of a pygmy hippopotamus is cause for big excitement.

The baby, a female, is the first of her species to be born at the zoo in more than two decades and the first offspring for 18-year-old mother Kelsey. "It is testimony that the zoo is doing all of the right things in order to make this normally shy animal comfortable enough to reproduce successfully and to be a great mother," Ron Magill, the zoo's communications director, said in a statement.

Pygmy hippos, like the more familiar Nile hippos, are native to parts of Africa, but pygmy hippos' range is much smaller than that of their larger cousins. Their habitat includes parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, and it's believed that fewer than 3,000 of them remain in the wild.

Zoo Miami is asking members of the public to help name the new baby by voting for their favorite name in an online poll. Name choices are Nzuri (Swahili for "beautiful"), Nyumbani ("home"), Leona (a play on Sierra Leone) and Asali ("honey," a tribute to another Zoo Miami hippo who died last year).

See another photo of mother and baby after the jump!

So what are you waiting for head out from your Florida Villas  to have a look at this cute new arrival and more species other than the homo sapiens at the Florida zoo

Read more

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/11/pygmy-hippopotamus-baby-zoo-miami.html