BOSTON, July 29 Workers at the Franklin Park Zoo are elated with the newest addition to the Boston tourist locale, a healthy newborn female wildebeest.
Zoo official David Hirschberg said the birth of the as-yet-unnamed wildebeest gives the facility another attraction that will likely draw in crowds, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.
"This calf, as with all babies born at the zoo, presents a great opportunity for us to teach people about animals from all over the world, because people always get excited to see baby animals," the zoo's vice president for institutional advancement said. "The calf is on exhibit for everyone to come and see."
The calf's proud mother, Juanita, originally came to the zoo through a national breeding program called the Wildebeest Population Management Plan.
The birth of the nearly 40-pound antelope last Thursday marked the first birth at the Franklin Park Zoo since March 16 when a Baird's tapir named Seamus was born.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
