Officials and visitors at the Calgary Zoo got a surprise on Saturday after it learned a pair of the facility’s camels introduced the new addition to their family.
Eva and Ollie, along with the rest of the camels had been at the Conservation Centre in Dewinton while the Panda Passage was being built and apparently the pair made good use of their time out of the public eye.
Trish Exton-Parder, lead media relations at the Calgary Zoo, says the baby was born on Saturday morning, but they aren’t sure if it is a boy or a girl.
“This little one is trying to get its feet, trying to get its bearings with mom. It’s super early yet but all signs from the keepers are that he’s doing very well; nursing with mom is going very well.”
She says that it’s been some time since the zoo has had a baby camel, even though the animals have been there for the past 30 years.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a camel offspring and it’s probably something that Calgarians haven’t seen.”
Exton-Parder adds that it’s extra good news because staff was feeling sorry for the camels because of all the extra attention that the pandas are getting from visitors.
“Now the bears might have their noses out of joint for a while. Babies are fun.”
The camels aren’t the only animals that have had babies this spring either. There have been a number of rocky mountain goats born in the Canadian Wilds and keepers are also expecting a new bighorn sheep.
