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why-animals-do-the-thing · 3 months

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Very, very fresh bison calf.

Months and months ago I promised y'all photos of the bison birth I was lucky enough to observe at the Cleveland Zoo last spring. As requested, they'll be under a cut, because unlike this lovely photo from the zoo announcement post, my photos are... goopy.

His name is Tighee, a name which the zoo said is "the name of a Shoshone chief."

We walked up just as things started to get going, and the story is below the cut...

This is Blue, a female bison who arrived at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in fall of 2022 already pregnant. When we got to the habitat, there were a ton of people gathered around, and it wasn't quite clear what was going on.

Then we noticed her full udder and the extra pair of feet.

She was dead-center in the (pretty large) habitat, which was nice - though there was a crowd, she had some good distance from everyone for most of it. The calf came pretty quickly, all things considered (something especially helpful when you're holding a heavy camera up on full manual zoom without a tripod). Because she was at a distance, my friend and I spent a bunch of time showing people near us photos on my camera screen so they could get a good view.

I was honestly really surprised at the number of people who asked why the zoo staff weren't in there with her, helping her give birth. So we explained to folk that zoo staff don't normally go in with bison on a normal day because they're so big and dangerous, and that during a birth (a time of potential stress for the whole herd, the rest of whom were off to the side of that habitat) it would be especially risky to do so. But you could see people in the zoo's uniform colors clustered around the fence, keeping a close eye on her.

And then there was a calf! For folk who haven't seen what a whole amniotic sac looks like, I'm including the next couple photos.

This one is still mid-birth, as you can see. The hooves come out first, with the calf's head laying parallel to them.

Blue immediately moves to break the amniotic sac and clear the calf's airways of mucus. Om nom nom.

We have open eyes and an awake baby! The amniotic sac is full of fluid that helps protect the baby while it's in the uterus, which means once it's broken, the baby is goopy. One of mom's first jobs is to lick all of it away to dry the calf off.

A first attempt at using legs!

Nope, being born was too hard and legs don't work yet. Time to rest and recover from the effort of thinking about standing up.

The first inquisitive member of the herd, another young female, comes to check out the newest addition.

More attempts at legs! Getting better but still not coordinated enough yet.

They're starting to help the baby stand up. In a non-captive setting it would be important for him to be able to walk pretty quickly after being born, and he has to stand up to be able to nurse!

Everyone comes to check him out, now.

We have legs! They work! He hadn't quite figured out where to nurse from yet, though.

And that's your bison birth for the day!

#bison #buffalo #zoo babies #birth tw #baby bison #my photography

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hometoursandotherstuff · 1 year

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#baby bison #baby animals #other stuff

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animalsandanimals · 10 months

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Bison calf, photographed by Joan Saba

Source: National Wildlife Federation

#bison #baby animals #baby bison #bison calf #buffalo #baby buffalo

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claypigeonpottery · 5 months

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did you know baby bison are called red dogs?

#reserved #pottery #ceramics #ceramic #ceramic art #sgraffito #carving #underglaze painting #bison #plains bison #red dog #baby bison

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johnnyslittleanimalblog · 3 months

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flickr

Sweet MOMent Between Bison Cow and her Calf - 7483b+ by Jen Hall

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wandering-jana · 9 months

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Baby bison! I hope this little one is having a good life being an invasive species on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Just because it's invasive, doesn't mean I can't love it.

#cute animals #baby animals #baby bison #travel #nature #wildlife #invasive species #wildlife photography #nature photography #explore #grand canyon #north rim #grand canyon national park #national park service #national park #findyourpark #wanderingjana #photography

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animalbabypolls · 6 months

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Losers Bracket Round 2

They tried their best but still get to play on the sub rounds!

#animal baby polls #polls #baby animal polls #animals #baby animals #baby bison #baby tiger #tiger #bison

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michael-massa-micon · 9 months

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Baby Bison - June 2023 Most people, if shown this first image, would not be able to identify what it was. Of course, after looking at the second image it would be pretty easy. Baby bison are this light brown color for their first couple years. I took over a dozen images of this and other young bison. There were several who seemed a little older. They were still the same color but had the beginnings of horns starting to erupt from the top of their heads. MWM

#wyoming #cheyenne wy #terry bison ranch #bison #baby bison #bison calf #bison cow

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webkinztournament · 8 months

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