A baby anteater survived being born on Miami's "coldest night" despite being abandoned by mom after birth.
This baby is a born fighter.
A baby anteater, believed to be a male, was born on the evening of December 8, one of the coldest nights of the year in Miami. According to Florida Zoo's statement, the newly-born anteater was found weak and cold in the corner of its holding area.
The zoo personnel found the newborn which was named Ziggy and raced the baby anteater to the zoo's hospital and placed it in intensive care. As the baby anteater was warmed up and given fluids, the baby became more responsive.
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Abandoned by Mom
Two days after recuperating from the hospital, the zoo's staff tried reintroducing the baby to its mother. Laura, the 7-year old mom tried to show interest in the baby anteater at first, allowing the baby to ride on her back. However, the mother anteater later became disinterested in her child.
The zoo staff later realized that Laura was not willing to accept her baby, which meant it was up to them to raise the baby anteater.
Baby anteater is now being taken care of by the zoo' staff, which entails feeding every three hours and monitoring the little warrior's condition round-the-clock.
The good news is, the baby anteater continues to gain strength, and the distinct "black and white coat" is starting to show.
At first, zoo veterinarians are "cautiously optimistic" that the baby can overcome the challenges in its first few days. They are also hoping that the improvements on the baby's health continue despite possible obstacles ahead, the zoo said.
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Mothers Rejecting their own babies
Mothers are normally nurturing towards their babies. But why do some mother mammals reject their own offsprings?
It is not known why baby Ziggy was abandoned by its mother, Laura. But cases of baby abandonment also happen in the animal world, albeit rare.
According to an article in Science Focus, natural selection in mammals favors mothers to care for their young as the cost of reproduction is relatively high.
Reproduction involved developing the fetus inside the mother's body which puts a big strain on the female and restricts the size of each litter. Thus, parents, mostly the mother, devoting a lot of time for parental care to protect and nurture their "investment" makes a lot of sense.
In some cases, abandonment may spring from food being limited that caring for the young might cause the babies and mothers to be malnourished. Thus, natural selection might favor the mother that selectively abandons or culls the weakest of the youngest of her children so that the other children may have better chances of survival.
In cases of captive animals, mothers often abandon their young because of too much handling. Although rejection of human handling is rare, there are various reasons why animals reject their young. Nonetheless, it is important to act quickly should one suspect that a litter or a baby animal is not being adequate maternal attention just what the Miami Zoo staff promptly did when they found baby anteater Ziggy to be abandoned by his mom.
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