Column "School of young zoo correspondent"

Young biologists of Mykolaiv Zoo talked with the employees of the courtyard "Grandfather's Hut" and want to inform you of news that will surely interest our visitors.

"On May 6, two Jacob lambs were born in Mykolaiv Zoo. Their parents are Mary and Blinchik.

Newborn lambs have a black and white spot color. One of them has white legs, and the other has black legs, which makes it possible to distinguish them. You can also distinguish them by size, because one of them is larger than the other. The lambs are both males. They don't have names yet. The little ones have already started to grow horns. One, which is a little bigger and stronger, already has 2 pairs of horns growing, and the other has only one pair so far.

Mary does not have enough milk, so the younglings are still fed goat's milk. Usually lambs begin to eat independently at about three months, but even now our younglings try to eat food for adults. However, their stomachs are not yet capable of digesting anything but milk. The diet of adult rams consists of 80 percent of green grass or hay, the rest is carrots, beets and potatoes in chopped form. All this is mixed with the oats.

The lambs and their mother are kept separately so that the adult sheep do not offend or trample the youngsters, because these sheep can be quite aggressive. If two Jacob rams are placed together, they will fight and constantly see each other as rivals. There is a legend that the Vikings kept this breed of rams and that is why the animals became very belligerent.

Mykolaiv Zoo invites everyone to come and see the newborn lambs. This is a great opportunity to spend time with the family, enjoying nature and getting to know the inhabitants of the zoo." (Creative work of young zoo correspondents Milada Strushlyak and Mykyta Kovalenko. Photo by the authors.)