Trio of puggles: the birth of short-beaked echidnas at Taronga Zooa

Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, has announced the birth of short-beaked echidnas, called puggles: the first births in 29 years. Three echidna puggles, born in August 2016 to three different mothers, are born hairless, but will later grow spines. The puggles were born to first-time mothers, Ganyi, Spike, and Pitpa. Pitpa was the last echida born in the zoo in 1987 – 29 years ago.

The three puggles don’t have names yet. Puggles hatch from eggs after 10 days, and when they hatch their mothers carry them in a pouch for up to two months. When the spikes grow, the mothers will put their puglles in a nursery burrow and feed them every 3-6 days.

Taronga zoo-keeper, Suzie Lemon, says mother Spike is so attentive that she feeds her puggle every second day. Their diet consists of termites and ants. The heaviest of the trio of puggles weighs over 500 grams, while the youngest currently weighs 250 grams.

Taronga Zoo had recently completed a new breeding facility for echidnas, which was designed after extensive research. It includes insulated nest boxes to ensure the puggles stay warm and safe as they grow.

Echidnas (Tachyglossidae) are Australian egg-laying mammals, called monotremes (Monotremata). There are only two monotremes in the world: the echidna and the platypus.

https://taronga.org.au

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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