News and Stories

 Four 4-week-old, hedgehogs are currently hogging all of the attention at the Cincinnati Zoo.  The four incredibly cute hedgehogs were born to mother, “Mali” and father, “Kenya,” and are currently off exhibit, behind the scenes in the Zoo’s Children’s Zoo Nursery. 

Two male and two female, the siblings were born on February 4 and are being hand-raised by the Nursery keepers until they are old enough to be included in the Zoo’s Animal Outreach Program.  The babies are spending time getting acquainted with Zoo staff because their days will soon include interacting with school children, greeting visitors at the Zoo,  and traveling to schools throughout the Tri-state, as an official Zoo Outreach Animal.   

Nursery keepers are feeding the babies four times a day by grinding up dry hedgehog food and mixing it with esbilac. The gruel is easy for the young hedgehogs to digest.   The Cincinnati Zoo has been home to 13 hedgehogs.  

Did you know? Baby hedgehogs are born blind and hairless! They don’t begin to sprout their sharp spines until 36 hours after birth.  The spines form a protective covering over their body.