“Super colonies” of wading birds are forming in Everglades National Park for the first time since the 1940s. A super colony refers to tens of thousands of nesting birds, and at this wetlands preserve in Florida, those include egrets, herons, Roseate spoonbills, wood storks and more. Officials expect the birds will have many mouths to feed this spring. Visitors can view the birds with binoculars from the Shark Valley Tower and at the Anhinga Trail. While in the park, keep your eye out for baby river otters. Sightings have been reported, but the animals tend to be pretty reclusive. Also, be on the lookout for young alligators plodding around. Visitors, including babies, are cautioned to remain a safe distance of at least 15 feet from any wildlife in the park.
Denali National Park
In the Alaskan wilderness, winter tends to take its time, and so baby animals frequently arrive later at Denali National Park than in the Lower 48. Many young animals experience their first breath as the busy summer season begins picking up. Bus tours (from $90 for adults and from $40 for children), which begin May 9, are the best way to safely spot wildlife in the summer, because private vehicles are prohibited in much of the park. If you go, look for moose and caribou calves, Dall lambs and gray wolf pups, all of which are born in May or June; and grizzly and black-bears cubs, which are born in January or February.
Zoos around the countryIt’s babies everywhere at the nation’s zoos. In late March, the Denver Zoo welcomed a bright-eyed Sumatran orangutan, which is a critically endangered species. Her name is Cerah, which means “bright” in Indonesian. Also new to Denver Zoo: four bouncing, bounding African wild dogs. The endangered pups were born in November, and only recently entered their habitat for viewing. And a Linne’s two-toed sloth, born in late January (named Baby Ruth), has been a huge hit with visitors. The Indianapolis Zoo is home to three new critically endangered babies: two are ring-tailed lemurs, born March 14. And then there’s Carina, a sweet-looking addra gazelle calf that zookeepers have bottle-fed and cared for because her mom didn’t show any of interest. At the Chicago Zoological Society’s Brookfield Zoo, visitors can peep at a tiny chocolate-colored reindeer. The fawn was just 12 pounds when she was born April 2, and is growing quickly. A downy African penguin chick hatched in February at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. It’s the first of the endangered species to hatch and be reared at the zoo. After 13 weeks in the den at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, twin sloth bear cubs — which, true to their name, look like a bear crossed with a sloth — moved out on exhibit, so now the public can peek in on their antics.
To keep tabs on what animals are born where, visit
ZooBorns.com, which shares baby animal news from zoos and aquariums across the world.