(WBIR-KNOXVILLE) The baby boom continues at the Knoxville Zoo.
Over the Labor Day weekend, the zoo welcomed three new Chacoan peccaries, an endangered species native to South America. It is the second litter of the little guys to be born this year.
The three little "peclets" were born Sunday morning to seven-year-old mother Butternut and two-year-old father Squash. The newborns were up and about shortly after their birth and appear to be halthy and thriving. The zoo says the peclets are already displaying their unique behavior of "frisky-hopping" which consists of running and leaping in circles in short bursts of activity.
And they may not be the last litter of peclets-- zoo staff are closely monitoring the group's other adult female, Zucchini, who is showing signs she may give birth in the near future.
Zoo visitors can see the family group daily during regular zoo hours.
According to a zoo press release, Chacoan peccaries are native to the dry Chaco region of western Paraguay, southeastern Bolivia and northern Argentina in central South America. Although they resemble pigs in their appearance, they are distantly related and not a member of the pig family. Pigs, hogs and peccaries are all even-toed ungulates, which are species that walk on hooves. Other members of the order include giraffes and hippopotamuses. Pigs and hogs are native to Europe, Asia and Africa, while peccaries are native to the Americas.
Knoxville Zoo is one of only 16 zoos in the country that have Chacoan peccaries, which are on loan from the country of Paraguay.
The zoo's most popular babies, gorillas Ubuntu and Obi, were born in May and June and are doing great!
