ZooTampa at Lowry Park's baby boom continues as the zoo welcomes new additions across multiple habitats, including a manatee calf, an endangered Eastern bongo calf and four critically endangered Bali mynah chicks.
The most recent arrival is a female manatee calf named Beatrix, who was born at the David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center. Her mother, Pneuma Thurman, is a 1,230-pound manatee who was rescued June 5 from the Manatee River in Manatee County after suffering a watercraft injury.
Beatrix weighed 76 pounds at birth and marks the first manatee birth at ZooTampa in more than a decade. The zoo said the mother and calf are bonding successfully despite Pneuma’s ongoing critical care treatment.
In Africa, ZooTampa welcomed a critically endangered Eastern bongo calf on July 3. The female calf, named Liberty, weighed 38 pounds and stood 2 feet tall at birth. The zoo reported Liberty and her mother are bonding well and remain in healthy condition.
Liberty’s birth marks the seventh Eastern bongo birth at ZooTampa since 2021 and contributes to conservation efforts for the species, which has fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild due to habitat loss and poaching, according to the zoo.
The zoo also recently announced the hatching of four critically endangered Bali mynah chicks. The species has fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild.
Earlier this year, ZooTampa welcomed two bongo calves, two southern white rhinos, two impalas and two nyalas as part of its ongoing conservation efforts.