Rozi was the first new arrival of 2015, born during the first weekend of January to her proud six-year-old mom Romy, and together they are now on view for Budapest Zoo visitors in the zebra enclosure near Magic Mountain.
Last month the public had a chance to vote on the zoo’s website to determine the baby zebra’s name, and Rozi won out over Pizsipaci, Zebibaba, and Zera. Rozi’s family originated in the wide-open plains of East Africa, but so far this adorable foal seems quite at home in Hungary’s capital – although zebras were bred at the Budapest Zoo since 1930, it’s been ten years since the last one was born here.
Almost immediately after Rozi made her debut, Boldizsár the Indian antelope (also known as a blackbuck) was born on January 6th, initially being reared by zookeepers on a diet of bottle-fed goat milk.
Blackbucks are classified as a near-threatened species because of overhunting in their native India, but although Boldizsár is a shy baby boy, he seems healthy enough to someday become a full-grown bull with distinctive spiral horns. Boldizsár’s seven-year-old mother Bambi is certainly doing her part to boost the blackbuck population – her newest calf is the eighth antelope that she’s given birth to since originally arriving in Budapest in 2009.
Most recently, Ikinya the giraffe was born on January 31 at 170 centimeters tall, and in less than a week he’d grown another ten centimeters. As the first child of six-year-old father Akin and mother Ingrid – who gave birth to Ikinya’s older sister Imara in 2013 – Ikinya brings the Budapest Zoo’s giraffe herd to a total of eight.
Giraffes were among the first species displayed at the Budapest Zoo; Emperor Franz Joseph donated the original long-necked resident in 1868 at the request of his wife, Hungary’s beloved Queen Elizabeth. Since then, 30 giraffes were born in the Magyar metropolis, and as soon as the weather gets warm enough Ikinya will join his towering family in the zoo’s Savanna area.Other cuddly critters that were recently born at the Budapest Zoo include Rosie the penguin (hatched in September), Asha the elephant who arrived on Valentine’s Day in 2013, four Indian lion cubs also born in February of 2013, Bongo the gorilla, and Moira the orangutan – apparently, love is in the air at this magnificent menagerie! Currently the zoo is open every day between 9am and 4pm, but beginning in March these hours are expanded as extra sunlight allows Budapest’s animal kingdom to enjoy longer days outside. Check out the English-language pages of the Budapest Zoo website for comprehensive information.
