HUTCHINSON, Kan. — On April 24th, 2021, beaver parents Nora and Clover and aunt Nugget welcomed two kits to the family. Unlike most animals it is not easy to identify the gender of a beaver.
With the help of the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory and Apple Lane Animal Hospital in Hutchinson, the zoo hosted a gender reveal party on Friday.
The kits are both boys. The beaver kits pulled on a ‘monkey biscuit’ (their favorite food) and afterward, munched on a cake made from biscuits and bananas.
The new additions are growing quickly. At birth they weighed about 400 grams. They are now about 12 pounds and eating solid foods. As herbivores they eat a lot of leaves, tree bark, and vegetables, but their favorite foods are sweet potatoes, carrots, and leaf-eater biscuits. They are coming out to explore their habitat more often now and can sometimes be seen swimming in the late afternoon.
If you have not been to one of the Family Zoo Nights yet, you have one more chance on August 13th. This evening event will be the perfect opportunity to catch the young beavers out and about.
For more details, please visit the Zoo on social media or at hutchinsonzoo.org.