Maryland Zoo

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore now welcomes Oscar, Niles and Sandy from their winter home in North Carolina. Visitors to the zoo can take an exhilarating ride on one of Maryland's summer resident camels. Until July 31 and throughout the month of September, guests can visit and ride 12-year-old Oscar, who is a 2,800 pound Bactrian camel, or 11-year-old Niles, a Dromedary camel who is almost eight feet tall. Sandy, who is three and a half, is too young to take riders but will be joining Oscar and Niles for some summer fun in between the Rock Island penguin exhibit and the Elephant Overlook.

A colobus monkey was born in an exhibit Saturday at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore . Zoo officials did not know for certain that one of their female colobus monkeys, 14-year-old Keri, was pregnant, the zoo's general curator, Mike McClure, said in a statement. The monkeys are "secretive breeders," he said. The baby's father is 19-year-old Bisi, the zoo's only adult male colobus monkey. Zoo workers have not yet dertermined the baby's sex, he said. "We want the mother and baby to be as comfortable as possible, so we are not attempting to bring them off exhibit to check on the infant at this time," McClure said.

Bunny, a 22-year-old chimpanzee at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, gave birth to a stillborn baby Thursday, the Zoo announced today. The Zoo's chimpanzees were given "mourning time" with the stillborn baby, according to Zoo officials. "This was Bunny's first pregnancy and things seemed very normal up to and including her last ultrasound earlier this week. At this time, we do not know what caused the infant to be stillborn," said Meredith Wagoner, mammal collection and conservation manager for the Zoo, in a press release.

Montrease Lamback of Gwynn Oak stood on the sidelines and snapped photos as her 2-year-old son, Tyler, slipped plastic Easter eggs into his green felt basket. The eggs secured, Tyler pulled them back out, tossed some on the ground, handed a few to other children and then stopped midhunt to admire what remained of his colorful collection. The adventure for Tyler and hundreds of other children Saturday was part of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore 's annual Bunny Bonanzoo.

Joice and Bunny, two chimpanzees at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore , are expecting, officials announced Wednesday morning. It would mark the first chimps born at the zoo in six years and would increase the chimp count to 13. "We are cautiously optimistic about having two successful chimpanzee births this year," said Mike McClure, the zoo's general curator. Both Joice and Bunny are healthy, McClure said, but they are under increased supervision because complications in giving birth are not rare.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Thursday, a sure sign that winter will continue for six more weeks. Amari, the Maryland Zoo's spotted leopard, disagreed. And the law of the jungle says leopard trumps groundhog every time. For the second year in a row, the zoo staff arranged for one of its critters to make a prediction. With a crowd of employees watching, the 19-year-old cat sprang from her rocky lair and bounded toward two cardboard boxes. The pink box was decorated with flowers, filled with meatballs and surrounded by straw carrying the essence of elephant.

When it comes to water, penguins aren't naturals. As a matter of fact, "some of them are terrified," says Bethany Wlaz , a keeper at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore . So each time African penguins are born into the zoo's breeding program for the endangered birds, someone like Wlaz becomes their swimming coach. But first comes the equally terrifying introduction to being wet. Soft as a cotton ball and about the size of a roasted chicken, Male One — hatched on Oct. 12 — is lowered into a stainless steel sink by Wlaz and Betty Dipple, another animal keeper.

A leggy baby gazelle is the newest part of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The addra gazelle calf, named Elvira, was born the morning of October 30. The healthy baby weighed 11 pounds. Her parents are Pearl, who's 9, and Makuru, who's four. But because Pearl is showing no interest in Elvira, zoo staff has decided to hand-raise her. Peal gave birth to another calf, Ray-Ray, earlier this year.  “Because the calf is so significant to the overall population of this endangered species, we decided that a quick intervention was necessary in order to keep her healthy,"  Mike McClure, general curator of the Zoo, said in a statement.

Two young okapi, an African forest mammal that looks like a cross between a giraffe and a zebra, have taken up residence in the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore 's giraffe house. The two okapi are half-brothers, on loan from the Dallas Zoo. Askari (ahz-kar-ee) is almost two years old, while Magani (mah-gah-nee) is one. They arrived at the zoo on Oct. 18. "The two arrived in fine shape after their 16-hour ride from Dallas to Baltimore," Mike McClure, the zoo's general curator, said in a press release.

The Strand Theater - 1823 N. Charles St., hosts Spooky Campfire Folklore, Oct. 28, 6:45 p.m. presented by the Maryland Humanities Council. Includes fire-eating and storytelling. Free. Call 410-685-0095 or go to http://www.strandtheatercompany.org. Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St. - presents Spooky Science Day, Oct. 29, noon - 4 p.m. "The Pumpkin Wizard" will be on hand to demonstrate how to carve jack-o'-lanterns. Also features crafts, games and experiments.