Published on: 2026-05-27
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
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In the rare animal reproduction center, wolverines appeared on January 26. And at the end of February, a camel calf was born, which can already be seen by visitors to the Moscow Zoo, subordinate to the city’s Department of Culture.
Wild animals that grow quickly
Mama wolverine is a young female named Kamchatka, who was born in the breeding center in 2022. The father of the cub, Ragnar, was born in Germany in 2017 and settled in the breeding center at the end of the same year.
Wolverines are rare and extremely secretive animals. The mother hides her offspring in the den for the first few months. According to specialists, having three cubs for the first litter is very rare.
“The wolverine is a serious beast, and the female, who protects her offspring, even more so, so observing the development of the young is not easy at all. However, the specialists at the center have long perfected the procedure of weighing and examining the offspring. But it is usually not done more than two or three times, because wolverines grow quickly and it becomes increasingly difficult to handle them,” said Svetlana Akulova, General Director of the Moscow Zoo.
Zoologists established that two females and a male were born in Kamchatka, and they differ by the individual pattern of spots on their throat. At two months old, the cubs weighed about two kilograms. Now they are already exploring the enclosure with interest, eating meat and much less often — mother’s milk.
In the future, visitors to the center will be able to see wolverin cubs during the guided tour.
In Russia, wolverines reproduce only in the territory of the rare species breeding center. Here, zoologists have developed a special methodology for keeping them that allows the animals to feel comfortable in order to produce offspring, and for people to study their characteristics and development.
The wolverine is the largest and strongest predator from the weasel family. It primarily inhabits taiga, forest tundra, and occasionally ventures into the tundras of Eurasia and North America, found in high mountain areas covered with forest. In the mountains, the wolverine also reaches alpine meadows. In our country, its range covers Leningrad, Vologda regions, Perm Krai, as well as Siberian territory.
The appearance of the wolverine is unusual and memorable. Stocky, it simultaneously resembles both a bear cub and a sable.
All processes related to raising offspring in wolverines are greatly extended over time. The rut usually begins in mid-March and reaches its peak in July. After fertilization, the development of the egg cell stops, entering a latent phase characteristic of all mustelids. Thanks to this, the appearance of the young occurs in the most favorable period — the following year, from January to April. Males do not participate in raising and rearing the offspring.
Matilda and Veniamin had a daughter named Marta
The parents of the camel, born at the end of February in the breeding center, became the two-humped camels Matilda and Veniamin.
“The ‘buggy’ named Marta was born on the last day of winter. She weighed 27 kilograms. This was Matilda’s first offspring, and, as often happens with first-time mothers, unfortunately, she did not start nursing the baby. Specialists waited for two days, but the situation did not change, and a decision was made to feed the baby artificially,” noted Svetlana Akulova.
The young Bactrian camels are covered with thick wool from the very first day and can withstand the cold steppe frosts, however, specialists have integrated the calf with domestic horses — camels are herd animals, and the formation of social relationships begins from childhood.
When Marta grew up, she was moved to an individual enclosure. She now eats willow branches and hay, and has also tried fresh green grass. However, the staff continue to feed her milk replacer three times a day — at 08:00, 15:00, and 22:00.
Visitors can see a camel during the observation and thematic tours of the production center.
Today, the Moscow zoo of the capitalDepartment of CultureA dynamic developing space where scientific work is conducted, international conferences are held, educational programs are implemented, and a unique atmosphere is created daily for residents and tourists to get acquainted with the world of living nature.
At the beginning of 2025, the Moscow Zoo set a world record for the number of animal species represented — there were 1,253 species housed there. By 2026, the number exceeded 1,280.
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