Fort Wayne Children's Zoo Has New Additions
Zoo Welcomes 7 Dingo Pups
Zoo
dingoes Naya and Mattie became the proud parents of seven adorable
puppies on January 30. The four male and three female pups are the
first dingoes to
be born at the zoo since 1988.
“All
of the pups appear strong and healthy, and Naya and Mattie are
excellent parents,” says Elaine Kirchner, Australian Adventure Area
Manager.
For
now, the puppies live indoors in a cozy nest box. When Naya enters the
nest box, the puppies whimper and crawl to her belly, where they nurse.
The pups’
eyes will open at around two weeks of age, and they may begin to
venture out of the nest box to explore the dingoes’ heated indoor
quarters.
Mattie
and Naya are one of only about 75 pairs of pure dingoes worldwide,
so the pups are an important addition to the pure dingo population. In
Australia, dingoes have widely hybridized with domestic dogs, so pure
dingoes are rare. Mattie and Naya came to the zoo from Australia in
2010.
Naya’s
litter of pups is notable not only for its size (most dingo litters
have just three or four pups), but for its coloration: The litter
includes three
ginger-colored pups, two cream-colored pups, and two black and tan
pups. Ninety percent of wild dingoes are ginger-colored, like Mattie
and Naya. Eight percent are black-and-tan, and just two percent are
cream-colored. Having all three color types present
in the same litter is unusual.
Like
all large litters, there is a wide size difference among the pups, with
the largest pup (a black and tan male) weighing nearly three times as
much as the
smallest pup (a black and tan female). “Even though the smallest pup
is tiny, she is very feisty,” says Kirchner. “She fights her way
through the crowd right to Naya’s belly, and has been gaining weight
steadily.”
Zoo
officials are unsure how many of the pups will be in the Australian
Adventure exhibit when the zoo opens on April 21, because some of the
pups could move
to other zoos. “No matter how many pups are on display, the dingo
exhibit will be action-packed this summer,” says Kirchner.
