MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Zoo is celebrating its first new babies of 2022.
A Dik-Dik named Hinata (pronounced Hee-nuh-tuh), or Hina for short, was born shortly before staff rang in the new year.
Hina was born to first time mom Willow and dad Mike. She has been staying inside where its warm with her mom. They will be on full exhibit when the weather gets warmer.
Dik-Dik are a very small antelope native to southern Africa. Hinata means “sunny place.” The Dik-Dik can be found in the Zambezi Hippo River Camp.
The Memphis Zoo said it hopes this is the first of many Dik-Dik births to come. They have volunteered to be a breeding partner to improve the population size for the species.
The first animal born in 2022 was Zito, a baby male bongo. Also known as forest antelope, Bongo are native to the forests of Africa.
“Zito” means clumsy - which zoo officials said he very much is - or big- which they said you’ll understand when you see his ears.
He was born to mom Marley and dad Franklin. There were some difficulties immediately following Zito’s birth, so he was bottle fed by his keepers for the first week. He has since been reintroduced to his mom and is nursing from her, though staff continue to supplement him as necessary.
Mom and baby will be on exhibit with the rest of the herd in the next few weeks, depending on weather.
Bongos are critically endangered, and Zito’s birth will help ensure genetic diversity within the zoo population of bongos. Officials said he will be an ambassador for his species to educate the public about his wild cousins.
