A new baby giraffe was born at Utah's Hogle Zoo in July. Photo: Utah’s Hogle Zoo

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Visitors to Utah’s Hogle Zoo have several new faces to meet this summer as the zoo welcomes a wave of newborn animals, including a giraffe calf, warthog piglets, a sand cat kitten, a porcupette, and critically endangered Amur leopard cubs.

The newest arrival is a female giraffe calf born July 20 to 8-year-old mother Stephanie and 5-year-old father Ja. The calf expanded Hogle Zoo’s giraffe herd from six animals to seven and arrived weighing 159 pounds and standing 6 feet tall.

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Zoo staff said the calf is healthy, nursing and exploring her surroundings. She was born with an umbilical hernia that is not currently causing complications and will be repaired with surgery in the coming weeks while animal care teams continue to monitor her.

Stephanie and her calf remained behind the scenes following the birth to allow the calf time to adapt to her new surroundings, according to zoo staff. For guests this summer, look in the winter yard, located behind The Eccles Express Train Station, to see if you can spot the pair.

Earlier this summer, the zoo announced the arrival of its first-ever warthog piglets. Tikiti, a 3-year-old common warthog, gave birth to two male piglets named Chad and Wharton on June 14.

The piglets have begun exploring the African Savanna habitat and can be viewed by visitors.

The zoo also welcomed a sand cat kitten born June 2. The kitten was named Reyah, which has Berber roots meaning “moonlight” and Arabic roots meaning “golden.” “A fitting name for this tiny desert cat,” zoo staff said in a social post.

The care team said Cleo and Reyah are more active in the morning and mid-afternoon, and guests can visit them in the Small Animal Building.

Another recent addition is Briar, a male North American porcupine born May 23. Known as a porcupette, the baby porcupine joins the zoo’s efforts to support species conservation and education.

Briar and his mom, Blackberry, spend time in either their outdoor habitat or indoor space, and they will rotate habitat access with Barton every other day. The porcupette will stay by Blackberry’s side for at least the next eight months before heading to another facility to serve as an ambassador for the species.

Amur leopard cub Caspian. (Utah’s Hogle Zoo)

The zoo’s Asian Highlands area also has two new residents: Amur leopard cubs Emilio and Caspian, who were born in February but have only begun exploring their habitat as of June.

The critically endangered cubs make an important contribution to conservation programs. With as few as 130 mature individuals left in their natural habitat, Amur leopards are among the rarest cats in the world.

With multiple young animals now growing under the care of Hogle Zoo’s animal teams, summer visitors have the chance to see new generations of wildlife while learning about conservation programs that support threatened and endangered species.