This happened yesterday (Thursday, May 17, 2007) around 11:45 a.m. at the children's zoo in Ueno Zoo. A volunteer came running, shouting, "Something's wrong with Goat!" When the zookeeper rushed over, they saw a tiny foot sticking out of the body of Momo, a mother Goat.

A baby's hooves are covered with a soft, white, mochi-like substance called "teipei" (hoof cake). Babies can stand immediately after birth, and for this reason, their hooves are hard from the start. The teipei surrounds the hooves to prevent them from injuring the mother's uterus or birth canal. Once the baby stands, the teipei quickly falls off.

Visitors watched anxiously as the mother cub was being cared for. However, a veteran animal keeper helped by pulling the baby's legs, and Momo safely gave birth. The visitors erupted in applause. The newborn baby was then wiped dry with a towel.

However, since another one might be born, I put the mother and baby in a small room with a thick layer of straw and left them alone to let them settle down. About an hour later, when I quietly went to check on them, a second baby had been born! The baby's fur was wet, but it seemed the mother had licked it clean.

The mother, Momo, is two years old. She has given birth to two pups in one litter so far. The father is Gohan, also two years old. Both pups came to the Hirakawa Zoological Park in Kagoshima City shortly after they were born.

Both puppies have white fur on their faces. The first pup was born female, weighing 2.05 kilograms, and also has white fur on its body. The second pup was born male, weighing 2.35 kilograms, and has a light brown body.

We want to get both the parent and child out into the sun as soon as possible, so in about a week (around May 24th), we'll put them outside and make their debut for everyone!

At the zoo, a separate card is created for each animal to keep track of its history. The "coordination officer" is responsible for creating these "family registers." When an animal is born, the zookeeper submits an "increase in assigned animals form" to the coordination officer. The zookeeper is especially happy when they submit this document.

Photo above: Newborn baby and mother
Photo below: Form for increasing the number of animals assigned.

[Akira Takafuji, Head of the Children's Zoo Section, Ueno Zoo Zoo]

(May 18, 2007)