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Zoo Miami is proud to announce the arrival of a litter of highly endangered African painted dogs! The litter, consisting of two males and three females, was born on November 20th and has remained secluded in the den with their parents since birth. This marks the first litter for the six-year-old mother, Uzuri, who was born at Zoo Miami. Her mother, Little Foot, also still resides at the zoo. The father, Cesar, is also six years old and was born at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Both parents are doing an excellent job caring for their puppies. This is one of only three African painted dog litters born at AZA-accredited institutions in 2025.
Until recently, the puppies had only been observed via closed-circuit television. Once staff determined that the parents were providing appropriate care, the Animal Health Team conducted neonatal exams yesterday. This marked the first time that they were able to handle the puppies, allowing the veterinarians to perform general physical exams, administer deworming treatments and distemper vaccines, and implant microchips for identification. Following the examination, the puppies were quickly returned to the den and reunited with their parents. They all appeared healthy and developing well.
The puppies will remain off display with their parents for the next several weeks. The Carnivore Team will continue to closely monitor their development with the goal of introducing them to the public sometime in mid to late February. They have been named Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red, after characters from the popular television series, “Fraggle Rock,” a Jim Henson production from the 1980’s.
With fewer than 6,000 individuals remaining in the wild, African painted dogs are among the most endangered carnivores in Africa. Found in isolated regions of Eastern and Southern Africa, they are found in packs that can range from six to more than twenty individuals. They are highly cooperative hunters and boast one of the highest hunting success rates among large carnivores. Only the alpha pair reproduces, and the female can give birth to as many as twenty puppies, all of which are raised cooperatively by the pack. Their teamwork allows them to take down prey much larger than themselves, including wildebeests and other large antelopes as well as warthogs and smaller antelope species.
The greatest threats facing African painted dogs include persecution buy landowners who view them as livestock predators, habitat fragmentation, and the transmission of diseases such as rabies and distemper from domestic dogs.
