WATCH: Adorable footage of two wobbly-legged new caribou babies at Montreal’s Ecomuseum
MONTREAL — Montreal’s Ecomuseum welcomed not one, but two, of its very first baby caribou this week.
“It’s a first,” Émilie Sénécal, a spokesperson at the Ecomuseum, told Global News. “We are very happy.”
The first baby was born on Saturday and the second on Monday morning.
The fawns’ mothers are Siku and Aurora, and the father’s name is Sven.
“They arrived at the zoo last fall, and have lived in our brand new ‘Great North’ habitat since then,” said Sénécal.
The parents’ names were chosen following a contest on the Ecomuseum’s Facebook page.
“You can imagine where the name Sven comes from,” smiled Sénécal, referring to Kristoff’s reindeer friend in the Disney movie, Frozen.
The two babies haven’t been named yet, because it’s too soon to tell whether they are male or female.
Do you have any suggestions for names? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page here.
None of animals at the Ecomuseum Zoo could survive in their natural environment and most are there because they have injuries that would prevent them from surviving in the wild.
5 quick questions answered about the caribou babies
Will the baby caribou live at the Ecomuseum for the rest of their lives?
It depends what gender they are.
“For the caribou’s well being, we can only have one adult male in our habitat, so if one of the babies is a male, we will have to find him a new forever home,” said Sénécal. “If they are females, chances are that they will stay with us. We always have the animals’ best interest in mind, and we will evaluate every option very carefully.”
When did they start walking?
They started walking 90 minutes after their birth.
What do the caribou babies eat?
The babies will continue to nurse until they are around two to three months old, but they will start to eat grass and vegetation in approximately two weeks.
What are names of the baby caribou?
“As we don’t know if they are males or females, they have not been named yet,” said Sénécal.
Are visitors welcome?
“We definitely welcome people to come visit them,” said Sénécal. “They are adorable and both mommies are taking great care of their young, which is very interesting to watch.”
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