Four baby bat-eared fox cubs born at Exmoor Zoo
The zoo says it's been keeping their living area quiet and hasn't told anybody about their birth until now.
Last updated 3rd Aug 2023
A litter of four baby bat-eared fox cubs has been born at Exmoor Zoo.
The three sisters and one brother have now all had their first dog vaccinations and been checked over by the zoo's veterinarian.
In the wild, bat-eared foxes live on the grass savannah of Africa and make a living by hunting termites.
The zoo says it's been keeping their living area quiet and hasn't told anybody about their birth until now.
"It is only now as they are growing up and becoming a little more independent from Mum that we felt we can let our visitors in on the secret. The barriers sealing them away from our visitors have now been taken away."
“Vuko” the pup’s sire was born in Ogrod Zoo in Wroclaw Poland and his wife “Opal “and dam to the pups was born in Opel-Zoo, Frankfurt in Germany. A continental marriage created by the studbook keeper for this species in European Zoos!
The birth was a welcome surprise as there is only one other zoo in the UK (Africa Alive in Norfolk) that has a breeding pair.
The curator at Exmoor Zoo Mr Derek Gibson said: "We have been carefully nurturing the puppies with extra feeds and lots of their parent’s favourite food (mincemeat) and they are only now beginning to let the puppies have a share as they are starting to be weaned.”
The Zoo Collection Manager Danny Reynolds is hoping the zoo can keep all the puppies as they grow up but this could require a bigger home within the zoo for them.
They're now asking the public for help with names for the puppies.
Choose a sunny day to visit and you should be able find the family of bat-eared foxes enjoying the sunshine during the midday in their enclosure.