New Spring Babies Born At Zoo Atlanta: PHOTOS

ATLANTA, GA — Spring is, historically, a season for new beginnings. At Zoo Atlanta, it also has been a season of firsts — with unique and special births happening among the zoo's animals.

A rare pair of twin crowned lemurs and babies for the only known pair of Guatemalan beaded lizards being mated anywhere are among the births of note at the zoo so far this season. Add some baby cobras and a cuckoo bird into the mix, and Zoo Atlanta is quite the nursery these days.

(Take a look at photos and video of the new babies below.)

The notable births include:

• Sava, a crowned lemur, gave birth to the twins on April 28. Twins are relatively rare among lemurs, according to the zoo, with the last known twin birth coming in 2013 when the new babies' father, Xonsu, was born. Crowned lemurs are an endangered species found in Madagascar. Sava an Xonsu's babies — whose genders are not known yet — join an important zoo population helping keep the species alive.
• Six baby Guatemalan beaded lizards hatched between April 2-11. Zoo Atlanta is the only zoo outside Guatemala currently breeding the species. A total of 41 of the lizards have hatched here since 2012. There are believed to be only 200 remaining Guatemalan beaded lizards in the wild. One of only two venomous lizards, it is a cousin to the Gila monster.
• Five Cape cobra snakelets hatched on April 27-28. The Cape cobra, found in Africa's Kalahari and Namib deserts, has one of the most powerful venoms of any cobra species.
• The first breeding pair of Guira cuckoos at Zoo Atlanta had chicks on May 3 and 11. The chicks left the parents' nest at 13 and 14 days old.
• A male Angolan colobus monkey was born March 8 to parents Lami and George. The baby, named Gerri in memory of a Zoo Atlanta team member, is the eighth in the zoo's colobus group. While not currently listed as endangered, colobus face increasing threats in their native Africa.

You may visit zooatlanta.org to learn more or to plan a visit and visit zooatlanta.org/conservation for more on conservation programs and partnerships at Zoo Atlanta.

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Photos courtesy Zoo Atlanta