African Lion Cubs

They look like fuzzy, spotted plush toys, so cute you’d like to hold them close and cuddle.

But at just 6 weeks old, three African lion cubs born at the Oregon Zoo last month are already practicing the skills that will make them among the most fearsome predators on the planet.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo / Michael Durham.

Humboldt Penguin Chicks

In March, three new chicks joined the Oregon Zoo’s Humboldt penguin colony. The birds have grown a lot since then.

They are now nearly as tall as the adult Humboldts, but easy to tell apart by their plumage: They are grayish-brown all over and won’t develop the distinctive black-and-white tuxedo markings for a couple more years.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

California Condor Chicks

On March 18, the first California condor chick of the season hatched at the Oregon Zoo's Jonsson Center for WildlifeConservation. The chick chipped its way out of its shell while still inside an incubator.

The California condor was one of the original animals included on the 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered. In 1982,only 22 individuals remained in the wild and by 1987, the last condors weretaken into captivity in an attempt to save the species.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

Ziggy the River Otter

Tilly, a North American river otter at the Oregon Zoo, gave birth to her second pup last November: Zigzag — or Ziggy for short — named after the 12-mile-long Sandy River tributary that flows down Mount Hood through Zigzag Canyon.

Because of habitat destruction and water pollution, river otters are considered rare outside the region, but are frequently observed in Pacific Northwest waterways.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

Juno the Sea Otter

Juno, who arrived at the zoo May 13, was found orphaned on a California beach in January, and soon made her way to The Oregon Zoo where she has joined two geriatric otters, Thelma and Eddie.

No word on whether Juno thinks Thelma and Eddie's house smells funny.

Wild sea otters have not established colonies off the Oregon coast since 1907, though a few individuals have been sighted, most recently in Depoe Bay in 2009.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

Cougar Cubs

In January, the zoo served as a temporary stop for three orphaned cougar cubs, until they were big enough to travel to a new permanent home in North Carolina.

Cougars — also known as mountain lions, pumas and (in Florida) panthers — live mostly in the western United States and Canada.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

American Black Bear Cubs

Surprisingly, loggers saved a species. At least, that's the case for the Zoo's three American black bear cubs who were found inside a log with no mother bear in sight.

The cubs were later taken to the Oregon Zoo, then transfered to a private nonprofit in Austin, Texas.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

Hedgehog Hoglets

What’s cuter than a baby hedgehog? How about five baby hedgehogs? Hakuna Matata, an African pygmy hedgehog at the Oregon Zoo, gave birth to a litter of five on July 7.

Their quills are actually modified hairs, which fall out and grow back throughout their lives.

Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo