News and Stories

If you’ve been keeping up with the zoo, you’ve seen that some of this year’s Zoo Babies are five little stinkers! Lily, one of our ambassador skunks, has five kits that just turned a month old and the Animal Ambassador Team is co-rearing them with her. What is co-rearing? Co-rearing is a collaborative approach to raising babies, and in this case, it’s between mom and keepers. We transitioned to this approach a few years ago for our skunk program.

The Animal Ambassador Team has been involved in skunk breeding for years, but in 2023, we wanted to change the way we prepared our skunk kits for their future. We pivoted to co-rearing. Through the success of our rewritten program in 2023, we co-reared Lily, a beloved ambassador skunk on our team who goes around with keepers meeting guests, and Domino, a favorite in the Blakely’s Barnyard Bonanza show with our Children’s Zoo team.

Fast forward and our baby is raising babies! Lily has been a wonderful mom. This year is unique because it’s the first time we’re co-rearing kits alongside a previously co-reared mom. Unexpectedly, Lily’s maternal instincts have been more intense than the non-co-reared mom we co-reared with in the past. When the kits were born, she was extremely protective of the den even with her most trusted people. We loved seeing those instincts kick in, and we also knew we had to adjust. Lily’s comfort always leads our socializing progress with the kits so we modified how we managed both her and the kits until she showed us she was comfortable with us in her space again.

And that brings us to now! We have four-week-old kits. They are looking around as their eyesight sharpens and they’re waddling more confidently as they develop more muscle in their arms and legs. With that, they’re starting to test their boundaries (and Lily’s patience) by wandering outside the den box. Soon they’ll be following mom, or us, wherever we go. Until then, during our entire work day we’re socializing skunks. There are always at least two kits with Lily and we have 2-3 kits out of the den box with us. We rotate them every couple hours so they have regular opportunities to nurse. Lily doesn’t show any signs of stress while kits are out with us and welcomes them back when they return. While most of this work is behind the scenes, the Animal Ambassador Team does bring the kits out daily while building kit confidence in different settings.

As you can see, raising successful ambassador animals takes an extra level of involvement. One of the biggest priorities of ours is that the kits learn their keepers are a safe space. We can’t keep them in a bubble and control everything around them all the time, so we instead focus on teaching them they’re safe with us and how to react if scared. As ambassadors, they’ll regularly be brought to unfamiliar places when educating and inspiring visitors. We are familiar though, and become their source of comfort no matter where they are. This is why ambassador keepers are so tactile with the animals in their care. Although you will see keepers being very hands on with ambassador animals, we do not encourage these animals as pets. If you come across an abandoned baby skunk, reach out to your local wildlife rehab for assistance.

Skunk season is one of the best times of the year for us on the Animal Ambassador Team. Being a part of these little lives and knowing that we are setting them up for success is such a wonderful experience. Getting to do it alongside Lily who was a baby asleep in our arms three years ago is especially meaningful.. We’re excited to continue this co-rearing process until the kits head out to their new homes. Follow along on social media for kit updates!