Young patients, their families and invited guests were treated to a visit with some amazing animal ambassadors from BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo—at a gathering at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital earlier today (Feb. 1, 2019)

Two lactating African elephants—Umngani (pronounced OOM-gah-nee), who gave birth to a healthy female calf, Mkhaya or “Kaia”, on Sept. 26, 2018; and Ndulamitsi, known as Ndula, who gave birth to a healthy male calf, Umzuli-Zuli or “Zuli,” on Aug. 12, 2018—are participating in a nutritional study, allowing researchers to study the content of their milk.

A new study is shedding light on the importance of one critical resource for Andean bears living in the dry mountain forests of Peru: water.