MENDON, Mass. – Get ready for some cuteness. Southwick’s Zoo will be celebrating their newest arrivals during “Zoo Baby Day” on Sunday, July 18.

“This year we are featuring a ‘cutest baby’ contest,” said Betsey Brewer, executive director of Southwick’s Zoo. “People will be voting for the baby they think is the cutest, and the winner will be posted on the zoo website the next day.”

A baby monkey clings to his mother’s chest at Southwick’s Zoo. Courtesy photo.

Visitors will be able to greet this year’s newest arrivals during the event. Birth certificates will be placed around the zoo to highlight the animals born within the past year, and the zoo’s docents, or lecturers, will have educational tables set up around the zoo. 

“Baby animals are from a few weeks to over a year,” Brewer said. “Some species remain babies for quite some time.”

According to Cindy Wilson, an experienced docent at Southwick’s Zoo, “babies are one of the most popular sights in a zoo, and we are blessed with a number this season. We hold Zoo Baby Day to celebrate our good fortune and the health of our animals.”

Baby prairie dog at the Southwick Zoo. Courtesy photo.

A few of Southwick’s new additions this summer includes a newborn four-horned sheep, warthogs, four species of deer, prairie dogs, guinea pigs, kangaroos, wallabies, Aoudads ( (or Barbary sheep) and two primates: red ruff lemurs and a Wolf’s Guenon.

“We count any baby born since last season ended Oct 31, 2020,” Wilson said. “The most recent were Aoudads and a Muntjac born at the end of last week”

The cost of the event is included in the general admission, and the event is pen during regular zoo hours from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Southwick’s Zoo is located in the heart of the Blackstone River Valley on more than 200 acres, making it the largest zoo in New England. They house more than 850 animals in naturalistic habitats including lions, tigers, giraffes, chimpanzees, white rhinos, two-toed sloths and more.

For a map of habitat locations, visit https://southwickszoo.com/zoo-babies-map/.