New Zoo Animals

Posted Date: 10/12/2016

New Zoo Animals

Kristina Johnson

2016 has proven to be a very exciting year for Lufkin’s Ellen Trout Zoo; not only did the Lufkin City Council approve the construction of a gorilla exhibit (a hope for the zoo since 2005), the zoo has also received multiple new and adorable additions!

In May, the Ellen Trout Zoo’s education department took in two opossum babies found in the Clouded Leopard exhibit. The brothers were named Mike and Sully, and made their educational debut at this summer’s Zoo Safari camps for children ages 6 to 11. The pair quickly became crowd favorites because of their playfulness and friendliness.

On July 20th, the zoo’s female African lion Adia gave birth to her second cub fathered by Mashaka, the male lion. Unlike their first baby, Sango, born in 2012, this cub was born starch white. The white pigment is very rare among lions (the last white lion cub born in the United States was in 2012), and therefore the tiny cub made national news. After inviting the community to vote online for the cub’s name, the newborn was named Ashur, which means “warlike” in Swahili. Ashur, whose fur has become progressively darker, made his first public appearance in the lion’s exhibit on September 3rd.

Most recently, in late September, two young  Clouded Leopards arrived at the zoo. These cubs are very important to the Ellen Trout Zoo because they are an endangered species. It is the zoo’s goal that they will eventually mature and reproduce as part of the Species Survival Plan.