This summer season’s fashion is to keep things simple in elegant black and white. And the animals at Zoo Berlin are certainly à la mode! From pelicans to zebras to seals, almost all of our cute new summer babies are sporting black, white, or a combo of the two – and they are certainly wearing it well!
The trend began on 9 June, when two Dalmatian pelican chicks hatched. These chicks are naked at birth, but soon sprout white down. They were followed by a fluffy white greater flamingo chick, who paddled over to the mainland from Flamingo Island for the first time on 12 June. These flamingos do not turn their characteristic pink colour until well into adult life. On that same day, a pied avocet chick first saw the light of day. Pied avocets have very striking black-and-white plumage, as do Abdim’s storks – another species that hatched a chick at Zoo Berlin this summer.
But it’s not just our birds who are fashion-conscious; many of our mammals are also bang on trend. Our shiny black California sea lions Enzo and Sandra welcomed their son Gorbi to the world on 23 June. And despite their somewhat misleading moniker, the red kangaroos also contributed to the black-and-white mix with their grey joey, who first peered out of its mother’s pouch on 24 June.
Grant’s zebra parents Jozef and Bella interpreted the dress code in a particularly stylish way. The delicate black-and-white stripes sported by their daughter Majira, born on 27 June, are quite a work of art. Just one day later, two seal babies peered out at the world with their big, black eyes. Their separate mothers Molly and Shiva just happened to give birth on the same day. And their father, Leopold, is mightily proud of his two new sons, Herbert and Gregor.
Our two-tone summer collection is enhanced with some subtle brown shades. The following animals also welcomed new arrivals this summer: the blesboks (5 June); the Visayan spotted deer (28 June); the nyalas (30 June); and the white-lipped peccaries (8 July).
And of course, as with every fashion trend, there are always some bold individuals who like to swim against the stream. The wings of our exotic blue-winged kookaburra chick are a vibrant turquoise. Who knows, maybe that will be the next zoological fashion craze?
