Spring has sprung and Zoo New England is excited to see several new furry faces. As guests enjoy the warmer weather at Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo, they can look for the newest animal residents: a grey kangaroo joey, prairie dog pups, and a trio of river otter kits.

Franklin Park Zoo:

Guests at Franklin Park Zoo may notice a new furry face exploring the Outback Trail. A grey kangaroo joey, who was born around August 15, 2025, has recently been seen with its head out of mom’s pouch. The joey was about the size of a jellybean when it was born to 4-year-old mother Opal and 3-year-old father Howie, and has spent over 8 months in the safety of its mother’s pouch, where it continued to grow and develop.

Now that the joey is beginning to observe the world, the care team anticipates it will fully leave mom’s pouch in the next few weeks. Once this happens, the joey will take short excursions around the habitat and then will return to Opal for feeding and the security of the pouch. Grey kangaroos become fully independent around 11 months old. 

Zoo New England participates in the Western Grey Kangaroo Species Survival Plan (SSP) in cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Each SSP carefully manages the breeding of species to maintain a genetically healthy and demographically stable population in human care. Kangaroos, which are endemic to Australia, face threats of car and train collisions as their habitat is divided by roads and railways.

In the Children’s Zoo, three tiny faces can be seen as the prairie dog pups recently began to explore the world above ground. Because the pups are born underground, the care team will not know how many pups were born this season until they all leave the burrows, which should happen by the end of May.

Pups are born blind and hairless, and do not make an appearance outside of the burrow until they are about six weeks old. The pups can now be seen exploring the prairie dog habitat alongside the adults. Both male and female prairie dogs help with raising the young. 

Black-tailed prairie dogs are found in short-grass prairie habitats of western North America, from southern Saskatchewan down to northern Mexico. They form complex, widespread underground burrow systems, and live in groups that are called towns or colonies. These colonies are further divided into territorial neighborhoods called wards. Within the wards are coteries, which are family groups comprised of a male, one to four females and offspring under two years old.

Stone Zoo:

At Stone Zoo, guests will soon be able to see a trio of North American river otter kits. Born on February 28 to mom Dunkin, age 8, and dad Oliver, age 7, the kits are doing well and have been bonding with their mother behind the scenes. For the first several months of their lives, North American river otter kits are completely dependent on their mother and spend time in their den under her watchful eye. 

The trio of kits, consisting of two males and one female, currently weigh between 2.6 and 2.8 pounds each. They received a clean bill of health at their most recent check-up on May 1. Their eyes first opened on April 3, a little over a month after their birth. By three to four months of age, the kits typically are weaned from their mother, able to eat solid foods, know how to swim, and exhibit playful behavior with each other. Be sure to check the Stone Zoo Facebook page for the latest updates on the kits’ habitat debut, which could be as soon as this weekend.

Zoo New England participates in the North American River Otter Species Survival Plan, which is a cooperative, inter-zoo program coordinated nationally through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. SSPs help to ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered, and enhance conservation of these species in the wild.