Rare Panda Twins Born at Zoo Atlanta

The world may be awaiting the birth of a little royal, but in the animal kingdom, it's baby panda season. Last night (July 15), a giant panda at Zoo Atlanta gave birth to two cubs, the first panda twins to be born in the United State since 1987.

The newborns are also the first pandas to be born in the country this year. They are fourth and fifth babies for 15-year-old mom Lun Lun, according to the zoo. The female last gave birth in 2010, to a male cub named Po.

"We're thrilled to welcome Lun Lun's and Yang Yang's twins," Raymond B. King, the zoo's president and CEO, said in a statement. "This is a success we share with all of our fellow zoological organizations working to understand and protect this iconic species, and we share our joy with our local community and with our colleagues in China."

- See more at: http://www.livescience.com/38202-panda-twins-born-zoo-atlanta.html#sthash.n3vebxte.dpuf

Orangutans sit still for heart ultrasound at zoo

ATLANTA (AP) — The 9-year-old patient sits still, munching on popcorn and sipping grape juice while he gets an ultrasound of his heart.

Every so often, he wiggles free long enough to swing from the ceiling or stick out his tongue before resuming a statue-like pose. Orangutans aren't known for their patience, but this one, named Satu, has been trained to let researchers at Zoo Atlanta perform echocardiograms on him while he's awake.

It's part of a groundbreaking national project — the Great Ape Heart Project housed in Atlanta — that researches heart disease in the rust-colored apes. Heart problems are the No. 1 killer of orangutans, gorillas and other apes living in captivity, and the disease threatens the work researchers have done to help increase the population of the endangered species.

"We don't really know what is causing it. Once we can understand that, hopefully we can treat it," said Hayley Murphy, director of veterinary services at Zoo Atlanta. "Our ultimate goal would be to prevent it in these amazing animals, these endangered species.

"We don't really know what is causing it. Once we can understand that, hopefully we can treat it," said Hayley Murphy, director of veterinary services at Zoo Atlanta. "Our ultimate goal would be to prevent it in these amazing animals, these endangered species. We're really trying hard to get a handle on this."

Researchers have been collecting data on gorilla heart disease for a decade, but zoos are just now starting to gather that information on orangutans. In February, Zoo Atlanta was the first facility to perform an awake echocardiogram on an orangutan.

Read more:   http://news.yahoo.com/orangutans-sit-still-heart-ultrasound-zoo-091325639.html;_ylt=AsqBkiH8sz0Rkbzsmw1943Z4hMgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRhZmEwZWhoBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgQW5pbWFsUGV0c1NTRgRwa2cDZDRmMjc2YTMtMjdmYy0zYjhlLThhYTUtMTY2MTY2ZWMzYWNlBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzUyYzMwZTQ3LThhYzktMTFlMS1iZmZmLWM0OWQ4MjA1ZWNhZQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFrM25vcXFyBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnMEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

World Rarest Tortoises Arrive in the US – via Herp Digest

From TSA newsletter 4/13/2012---A special delivery of some of the world's rarest reptiles has arrived in the Southeastern United States. Eight critically endangered ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora), imported by the TSA, are now residents of Zoo Atlanta and Knoxville Zoo. They may represent the last hope for a species marked for extinction.

Widely considered the world's most endangered tortoise species, ploughshare tortoises are native only to Madagascar. Despite a concentrated recovery program begun in 1986 by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the population continues to founder due to the combined effects of illegal commerce and habitat destruction. Ongoing demand on a global black market, where ploughshare tortoises are often sold to collectors at higher than the price of gold, may have reduced their numbers to as few as 400 individuals.

In 2008, the Recovery Plan Workshop for the Ploughshare Tortoise suggested the establishment of a captive population outside Madagascar. The founders of that population, a group of 10 tortoises confiscated from illegal traders in Hong Kong and Taipei, were imported to the U.S. by the Turtle Conservancy/Behler Chelonian Center.

Now, a second group of eight ploughshare tortoises have recently been imported to the U.S. by the TSA by permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The tortoises will be housed at Zoo Atlanta and Knoxville Zoo, with oversight from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), which manages the breeding and placement of the species in zoos accredited by the AZA.