More offspring at the Oberrabenstein game reserve
Around Easter, many young of various European species were born at the Oberrabenstein game reserve.
After a single female had given birth to the first wild boar at the beginning of February, three more females have now followed. There are now a total of 22 young boar in the spacious and near-natural enclosure. Two bucks have even "fledged" seven young each. Younger bucks give birth to three to five young, while older bucks can give birth to up to eight young. Two other bucks are still expecting offspring. Newborns can be born well into June.
The mouflon enclosure, the only European wild sheep species, is located close to the wild boar enclosure. Three offspring have been born here before and after the Easter weekend. This period corresponds to the typical breeding season from the end of April to the beginning of May. As a rule, one sheep gives birth to one or two lambs.
The new pair of wildcats provided a special surprise and great joy. On Holy Saturday, the keepers spotted five kittens next to their mother in the litter box in the enclosure. This new enclosure for European wildcats, which was financed by the Tierpark-Förderverein, was only opened at the beginning of December and both animals - the cat comes from a Swiss zoo and the male from a French zoo - were introduced.
After nine weeks of gestation, the cat can give birth to three to five kittens. This takes place in a safe hiding place, as the kittens are blind for around nine days. In the first few weeks, there is therefore little chance of spotting the kittens outside the whelping box. The main activity time of wildcats also only begins after sunset.