Stingray born at the Mississippi Aquarium
The Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport is celebrating the birth of a stingray pup at its aquatic research center.
Experts at the aquarium say it is rare that an animal is born in the facility’s care. Workers realized one of their stingrays was pregnant earlier this year and moved her off site to the research center where she gave birth to a healthy male.
The young stingray was born March 3rd and spent a few months in the research center before being introduced to his new habitat on the aquarium’s third floor last week. Vice President of Veterinary Services Alexa Delaune said, “Animals in human care have very stringent requirements, so I’m a veterinarian, we have another veterinarian and a veterinary technician. We make sure we do physical exams on all of our animals once a year. And then we use the husbandry team members to look after the animals. And they kind of serve as the eyes and ears on a daily basis.”
Puppy was born small, weighing 300 kilograms and has since grown to be about one pound.
