Animals: Meet the super cute new babies born at zoos this summer

It's been a bumper summer of baby animals for zoos around the UK and Ireland, with several welcoming new mini additions!

Most recently, a rare red panda cub, described as a "symbol of hope", was born in Hertfordshire.

Red Panda Tilly gave birth to the cub, named Little Red, in July and it was caught on CCTV cameras at Paradise Wildlife Park.

Red Pandas are classed as endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, with less than 2,500 left in the wild.

Little Red's parents met on an international breeding programme and the birth of the cub has become "symbol of hope" says Aaron Whitnall from the zoo.

Take a look at some of the other adorable animals born over the last few months!

Fritz the hippo

Meet Fritz the baby hippo who was named by the public.

Cincinnati Zoo asked for name suggestions for the new arrival and they had thousands of suggestions from across the US and from other countries too.

In the end, hundreds of thousands of votes came in and Fritz won.

Head hippo keeper Wendy Rice said: "We would have been happy with either name, but we really think the name Fritz fits this spunky little guy's personality."

Fritz is doing well and is spending time bonding with his mum Bibi at the moment.

Okapi

An okapi calf

Dublin Zoo has been celebrating the arrival of a male okapi calf.

Okapis are a large, hoofed animal related to the giraffe, and have a red-brown, velvety coat with distinctive black and white stripes on their back legs.

The baby was born to parents Lumara and Kitabu, and is only the second okapi ever to be born in Ireland.

"We are absolutely delighted to welcome this okapi calf to Dublin Zoo," said Helen Clarke who is a team leader at Dublin Zoo.

"The species is listed as Endangered so every birth is extremely important. The infant is nesting at the moment, as is typical for okapi calves, but will soon emerge to accompany his mother into their outdoor habitat."

She added: "The baby is doing very well and visitors to the zoo... may be lucky enough to get a glimpse of the new arrival in the coming days."

The baby is yet to be given a name but he isn't the only awesome birth to have taken place at a zoo in recent months.

Take a look at some of the other adorable animals born over the last few months!

Stanley the giraffe

Stanley was born after his mother was in labour for three hours

Chester Zoo is now home to a brand new giraffe called Stanley, which is short for Mount Stanley, the tallest mountain in Uganda.

Stanley was born to his mother Orla after a 15-month pregnancy and fell from quite a lofty height when being born, as giraffes give birth standing up - but it was nothing for staff at the zoo to be concerned about.

Giraffe team manager Sarah Roffe said high falls are "a really important part of the birthing process" for giraffes as it breaks the umbilical cord and stimulates the calf to take its first breath.

Stanley has been exploring his surroundings under the watchful eye of his mother, Orla

The zookeepers were surprised to find Stanley was already a whopping 6ft tall and weighed a solid 72 kg when he was born.

Sarah described him as "strong, healthy and very content".

Lemurs

The babies seems to be settling in well to their new home in the park

Check out these adorable baby lemurs! Three of them were born at Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland in June.

They are black and white ruffed lemurs, also known as Varecia variegatea, a species that is critically endangered.

The park has had a lemur habitat since 2019 in order to help the public better understand the difficulties the species has faced in the wild.

Tamarin

Drusillas Park in East Sussex welcomed a critically endangered red-handed tamarin to its zoo earlier this year.

The monkeys are known for their coloured hands, which make them look like they have little gloves on and they're often a bright shade of orange!

The youngster was a particularly special addition to its family as its parents Isla and Kiwa sadly lost their first new born last year.

A trio of tigers

Three super-cute Sumatran tigers were born at London Zoo in July.

Their birth was an important one as there are currently only around 300 Sumatran tigers left in the world.

Deforestation and habitat loss, and poaching are some of the factors that have contributed to their declining numbers.

The trio of young tigers at London Zoo were born to mum Gaysha and dad Asim.

What's your favourite animal to see at a zoo? Let us know in the comments!