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With more baby news, the Milwaukee County Zoo is excited to announce the births of three — yes, three — scimitar-horned oryx calves born earlier this spring.
Zaman, a male, was born on March 22 to mother Zahara. He weighed 8 kg at birth, and his name is of Arabic origin meaning “keeper of time.”
The second calf is a female, Yaji. She weighed 7.3 kg at birth and was born on March 25. Her name is a specific spice blend found in the North African region where oryx originate from. Yaji’s mother is Babe.
Female Yashi was born March 29 to mother Moza and weighed 8.3 kg. Her name comes from the Hausa language and means “sand or sandy.”
Male oryx Mercutio fathered all three calves.
As Tim Wild, Curator of Large Mammals, explains in the video below, the births are particularly important, as scimitar-horned oryx are an Endangered species. The oryx at MCZ arrived here on a breeding recommendation as part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan® (SSP) Program.
The oryx calves spent their first few months behind the scenes and close to their mothers’ sides and can now be seen out in the African Water Hole habitat.
