Reindeer baby boom at zoo

Four reindeer were born at an Austrian zoo.Schönbrunn Zoo director Dagmar Schratter said today (Thurs) four female and two male babies of the breed had come into the world within the past few days.Schratter explained: “Male reindeer Hank is responsible for our latest baby boom. He joined us from Gelsenkirchen Zoo (in Germany) last September and the female herd members seem to fancy him.”Reindeer weigh around five kilograms at birth. The mammals’ natural habitats are located in the Arctic and Sub Arctic of northern Europe and North America. Reindeer vary in colour and size. With a few exceptions, both sexes grow antlers. Some of their subspecies are rare. One or two have already become extinct, according to environmentalists.News that four reindeer were born comes shortly after the popular zoo situated in Vienna-Hietzing announced the birth of six Rockhopper penguins. Schönbrunn Zoo is the only animal resort in the world running an annual breeding programme to protect the endangered species from extinction.Around two million people visit Schönbrunn Zoo every year.