HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - The Hattiesburg Zoo’s newest baby animal is quite an adventurer.
And the six-week-old male spotted hyena has been given an appropriate name.
Zoo staff has named him Tukio.
It means adventure in Swahili.
Tukio is the cub of mother Pili and father Niru.
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He was born on June 7 at the Hattiesburg Zoo.
Zoo staff says he’s doing well.
They say although he was born in Hattiesburg, he won’t be retiring in the Hub City.
“He’s part of the SSP program, or the Species Survival Program,” Hattiesburg Zoo’s Director of Animal Care, Kristen Moore, said.
“We work very closely with them through the (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) network, so while he was born here, he won’t live here is whole life. He will eventually go and be part of a breeding pair.“
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She added that “they decide where he goes and we send him.”
Moore says Tukio will probably stay at the Hattiesburg Zoo for about two years.
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