View the videos:
Banded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ZPwaaXLkQDwarf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWnjwZB6JdI
New York, N.Y.- Oct. 27, 2010-Eight bundles of joy have arrived in the Tropic Zone at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo – four dwarf and four banded mongoose pups.
The two litters mark the first dwarf and banded mongoose pups every born at WCS’s Central Park Zoo.
“We welcome these great additions to our mongoose families,” said Jeff Sailer, WCS’s Director of City Zoos. “The exhibits give people a chance to compare the dwarf and banded mongoose species next to each other, and see how behaviors of animals from the same family can be very distinct.”
The three adult banded mongoose are larger than the dwarf and have several bold, black stripes across their backs. The two adult dwarf mongoose are smaller and have brown fur. As carnivores, they spend a great deal of time searching for insects, bird eggs, and small reptiles to eat.
The two species are exhibited side-by-side on the mezzanine level of the Tropic Zone exhibit where zoo-goers can observe how all members of the mongoose social group help raise the young. Both dwarf and banded mongoose are from Africa where they live in extended social groups.
In the wild, they form partnerships with birds such as hornbills. The mongoose rely on the hornbills as an early warning system for predators and the hornbills benefit from picking off the insects fleeing a roving band of mongoose.
The mezzanine level of the Tropic Zone has undergone renovations to house the mongoose as well as new mountain coatimundi, a long tailed, raccoon-like animal native to South America. Always a balmy 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it is the perfect place to escape the cold weather.
Video Credit: Luke Groskin © WCS
Contact: Sophie Bass: 718-265-3428; sbass@wcs.orgMax Pulsinelli - 718-220-5182; mpulsinelli@wcs.orgSteve Fairchild – 718-220-5189; sfairchild@wcs.org
Special Note to the Media: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a web link where they can support these projects, please direct them to: www.wcs.org/donation.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo - Open every day of the year. Admission is $12 for adults, $9 for senior citizens, $7 for children 3 to 12, and free for children under 3. Zoo hours are 10am to 5pm weekdays, and 10am – 5:30pm weekends, April through October, and 10am – 4:30pm daily, November through April. Tickets are sold until one half-hour before closing. The zoo is located at Fifth Avenue and 64th Street. For further information, please call 212-439-6500 or visit www.centralparkzoo.com
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
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