Did You Know? Killer whales are the top predator in the ocean; a healthy adult can prey on anything that lives in the sea and has no predators of its own. View More Baby Boom CONTRIBUTORS: Honoria Nadeau, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay; Corrine Brindley, SeaWorld San Diego; Jack Pearson, SeaWorld Orlando Each year, the Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks welcome new arrivals - some with feathers and fur, others with flippers and fins. Celebrating successful and significant births at multiple parks, Summer 2003 proved to be no exception. Now that's a big baby. SeaWorld San Diego welcomed a very special baby May 1. After more than a year of waiting, Kit, a 2,400-pound Pacific walrus, gave birth to daughter Kaboodle. While the pup weighed a healthy 110 pounds at birth, keepers noticed she wasn't nursing and had to separate her from her mother. Today, Kaboodle drinks about six liters of walrus formula and is gaining nearly 2 pounds per day. Her keepers spend time playing with her, and have provided a pool where she can hone her swimming skills. Kaboodle's birth is cause for much celebration; walrus births are rare in a zoological setting. While female walruses reach maturity between 6 and 10, they don't commonly reproduce until 10 to 15. A 16-month gestation combined with up to two years of nursing make reproduction a very long-term process. While Kaboodle is raised by professional marine mammal keepers, she will slowly be trained to assist in basic husbandry procedures. This is important to her overall health and well-being. It is hoped that one day she will be reunited with her mother and the two can be seen together at SeaWorld's Wild Arctic attraction. Rare twins thrive at Busch Gardens. Another significant birth - or births - caused commotion at SeaWorld's sister park, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. The park, home of Florida's largest zoological collection, welcomed two new babies - twin male and female bongos. Bongos are large, colorful, spiral-horned antelope, native to Central Africa's lowland and mountain forests. Prior to the birth, bongo twins were rarely known to survive. In fact, the twins born at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay are only the seventh set ever documented. The calves were born to first-time mother Bitulu, whose name is Swahili for "too late." At birth the twins weighed 26 and 27 pounds, which is a little smaller than average. Zookeepers describe the babies as "healthy, playful and always nursing." In a salute to Anheuser-Busch's heritage and commitment to conservation, the babies have been named Amber and Bock - inspired by the popular Michelob specialty beer. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has supported bongo conservation in the wild by participating in the Bongo Antelope Field Study, in which zookeepers monitor the park's herd and share data with field scientists in Africa via the Internet. The birth of twin bongos is the latest addition to the park's rich history of zoologically significant births. By participating in more than 20 of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Species Survival Plans benefiting numerous endangered and threatened species, Busch Gardens shares their breeding success with other zoological institutions around the world. Pups at Pacific Point Preserve Sometimes the birth of twins requires intervention by the zoological team. Such was the case one late spring morning at Pacific Point Preserve, the sea lion and harbor seal habitat at SeaWorld Orlando. During the 2003 birthing season, something unusual occurred. On early morning rounds, a keeper observed two newborn seals with one female. Did a first-time, inexperienced mother give birth and desert her pup? If so, keepers would need to move the inexperienced mother from the habitat along with the pup and put them together in a quiet place to allow them to properly bond away from the activity of the colony. This time was different. The female, a very experienced mother, was actually taking care of two pups and allowing each to nurse. The keepers then realized she had twins. The decision was made to leave her with both pups temporarily with the realization that seals and sea lions rarely if ever will successfully raise two pups. Like many other species that normally give birth to only one offspring, female seals will choose to put all their effort into rearing one pup. With limited energy to spare, this strategy contributes to the health of the species. If the mother tried to raise two pups, she would probably lose both. During the second day, the new mother appeared to reject one of the pups. A keeper immediately stepped in and became surrogate mother. An awesome responsibility, this job is one of the most rewarding for a keeper and requires many long nights. After discussions with the veterinarians and curatorial staff, the quantity of formula per feeding was calculated and the first feeding sessions commenced. Each morning, the hand-raised pup was weighed and its general health monitored by the veterinary staff. A weight gain of 1 to 3 pounds was typically seen at each weigh-in. Eventually, the pup weaned from straight formula to fish. The keeper and the pup had spent many hours together. The pup knows the keeper as a maternal figure and recognizes the sound of the keeper's voice.