Everything you need to know about animal births at Edmonton Valley Zoo in 2024

A four-month-old red panda cub checks out it's new surroundings at the zoo in Edmonton on Friday November 15, 2024. Red pandas are an endangered species with only 2,500 remaining in Asian countries, such as India, Nepal and China. (Jason Franson)

The Edmonton Valley Zoo is home to more than 350 animals, a number which grew this year thanks to a few new additions.

Four North American river otters, two red pandas and around 1,800 northern leopard frogs were born at the zoo in 2024.

These were the first panda cubs the zoo has had since 2017. Over the past 20 years or so, the zoo has had around 30 panda cubs.

As for the river otters, these are the third group of pups the zoo has had in the past 10 or so years.

“Everyone loves babies, right? We’re also excited to see the babies and to watch them grow and learn how to be adult versions of themselves,” said Trevor Hickey, a seasonal animal care lead.

“It’s super exciting to see them playing with their babies, a lot of what they do is play just like human babies.”

And just like humans, playing is important for the development of these baby animals.

When it comes to the child rearing, the zoo tends to leave most of it to the parents and other animals, since the humans can’t teach these children how to be a member of their species, but zoo staff do have lessons to impart.

“Like veterinary care or just general husbandry,” Hickey said.

“We’ll teach them that a scale isn’t a scary thing to stand on and then that way we know how much they weigh as they grow, and we can track their weight to make sure that they’re healthy.”

Meet the babies

The red panda cubs, Fred and George, were born on July 7. Red panda mothers face “many pre- and post-partum challenges,” so the cubs didn’t make their public debut until October when they and mother Kiki were ready.

They took two months to even leave their nest box, which was livestreamed so the public could see their development and growth.

The cubs make up the third generation of red pandas at the zoo, along with father Tango and grandpa Kalden.

Red pandas are classified as endangered with a population of less than 10,000 worldwide, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Red pandas are native to Asia, living in high-altitude forests in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.

North American river otters and northern leopard frogs are native to Alberta and the Edmonton area.

In the prairies, the northern leopard frog is classified as endangered and in the Rocky Mountains, it is classified as being a species of special concern, according to the Canadian Herpetological Society.

The population began to decline in western Canada in the 1970s and they are now considered rare, in part due to habitat loss as land was converted for agricultural and urban use.

During that time, the Edmonton population went extinct.

In eastern Canada, the species is classified as not at risk.

In 2019, the zoo joined the Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team’s efforts to save the western population and brought 22 of the remaining frogs to the zoo.

They began breeding the frogs in captivity and healthy tadpoles were released into specific wetland areas in B.C.

“A lot of our animals are part of breeding programs with accredited zoological organizations across North America,” Hickey said.

“We’re part of species survival programs, or safe programs, saving animals from extinction, and so we take recommendations from those programs and that will dictate, often, where our animals go or if they stay here to breed or if we get new animals in or if our animals are shipped out.”

Each female northern leopard frog can lay between 300-6,500 eggs each spring, according to the zoo.

The North American river otter population began to decline in the 1800s due to over-harvesting and water pollution, according to Nature Conservancy Canada.

“However, through conservation management and reintroduction efforts, populations have recuperated and are now considered stable or increasing,” according to the organization.

Extinction education

Zoo staff aren’t the only ones excited about baby animals, and they try to educate the public about the importance of conservation when people come to see the new additions.

“One of our biggest mandates at the zoo here is educating the public about the animals that we care about, not just because they want to see them, but because it’s important globally to understand the plight,” Hickey said.

“We’re in a mass extinction event right now and if people don’t care about these animals, they’re not going to do anything to save them and that’s where zoos come into play, creating that emotional connection between the animals they see at the zoo and then the animals that they represent in the wild.”

Some animals have unique reproductive strategies to help ensure they give birth to their young in the most ideal conditions available.

“A lot of our carnivores (like the otters) go through something called delayed implantation, which means that when the egg is fertilized the female sort of holds onto it before implanting it into the uterus to start its development,” Hickey said.

“That way they can time when the conditions in the environment are right for them to have those pups, to give them the best chance of success.”

Red pandas can also do this.

The zoo has a new wolf enclosure under construction and plans to move its male arctic wolf, Tundra, into the enclosure with two female wolves that came from France in February.

Arctic wolves were classified as a vulnerable species between 1982 and 1995, but have since become classified a species of least concern, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The aim is to have a multi-generational pack, complete with wolf pups in the near future.

The zoo tries to cultivate environments for animals to mate and tries to avoid accidental births.

“All of our breeding programs are carefully managed just to make sure that we’re not overpopulated, so that we can provide the best sort of life for the animals in our care,” Hickey said.

“While breeding is very natural, and it provides a ton of opportunity for these animals to experience natural behaviors, if we don’t expect there to be a good outcome for that, then we wouldn’t do it.”

More information about the zoo is available online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson