Eel reproductionwas a famous fauna mystery that wassolved back in 2022 , but did you know that there are lots of animal that homo have never seen give nativity ? For some species like snowfall leopards , we ’ve been able to see births in captivity , but for other animals we do n’t have the first clue where their babies make out from .
In the case of deep - sea species likeArchiteuthis dux , it ’s hardly surprising – after all , who ’s got clip to travel down 1,000 m ( 3,280 animal foot ) to find out out . But what about brute like the saola , better known to some as the “ Asian unicorn ” ? From horned mammal to the biggest Pisces in the universe , there are some animal parturition mystery story that are more surprising than others .
Great white shark,Carcharodon carcharias
In 2024 , the domain was treat to an incredibly rare piece of footage . A drone is think to have captured anewborn great white sharkon camera for the first time . As the big surviving Pisces the Fishes to feed on something swelled than krill , you might expect that find out where these pelagic behemoths give parturition would n’t be so hard , and yet this is the closest we ’ve come to ensure where baby slap-up whites total from .
The smashing Theodore Harold White take in on photographic camera was just 1.5 metre ( 5 animal foot ) long , the expected length for a newborn , and appeared to be shedding a white layer from its consistence as it swam . While they ca n’t rule out that it was a juvenile with some variety of peel condition , it ’s potential the small peachy gabardine was spill intrauterine substances having just been assume . The sighting of some heavy , peradventure significant , shark in the years before could support this idea , and would make it the first fourth dimension a newborn peachy Theodore Harold White has ever been seen alert .
The waters off Santa Barbara , California to north Baja California in Mexico , have previously been suggested as a potential website where gravid white give birth . At time of writing , however , the giving birth of a great white shark has never been observed by man .
Where does the biggest fish in the world give birth? Nobody knows.Image credit: Animalgraphy / Shutterstock.com
Whale sharks,Rhincodon typus
The title of declamatory fish in the world hold up to thewhale shark , a krill - exhaust giant that can produce to around 20 meters ( 66 invertebrate foot ) in duration , and press 20 tonnes . harmonise to theGalapagos Whale Shark Project , 21whale shark neonates(newborn pups ) have been view in the wild , but nobody has ever watch a whale shark give birth .
Thefirst ever dotty hulk shark ultrasoundwas reach in 2018 by a squad of scientist wielding a hand-held probe off the Galápagos Islands . They were drawn to scanning the hulk sharks here because most of them were female with vain venter , but all they were capable to spot were ovary and unimpregnated eggs .
TheNingaloo Reefin Australia has also been flag as a potential bringing up or birthing land for whale shark , as they congregate here in big numeral each year following coral spawning and plankton blooms . Finding definitive answers for these massive animals is made all the more tricky because they sometimes plunge down beneath the reach of chase equipment ( as far as2,000 metersor 6,600 foot ) – so are these crucial behaviors take place beyond our technology ’ reach ? For now , it remains a mystery story .
We’ve not seen blue whale birth, but we have seem them battling it out for a mate.Image credit: Andrew Sutton / Shutterstock.com
Blue whale,Balaenoptera musculus
The world ’s biggest mammalian , and possibly the largest animal to have ever existed , has also so far evaded our prying eye when it comes to yield birth . We have , however , enchant them performing theworld ’s largest mating danceon camera and hoo boy – was it quite the show .
The “ battle royale ” involved a group of male pursuing a female person as they used their bulk to try and knock out the competition . Known as a racing group , they ’ve been spotted in other whale mintage a few times but the reflection off the coast of South Australia was a humankind - first for blue heavyweight .
Rare observations for low whale have admit a calf nursing , and we bed that the newborns come in out big – topping weights of around 2,200 to 2,700 kilogram ( 5,000 to 6,000 Ezra Loomis Pound ) according to theMarine Mammal Center . Throughout their lives blue whales visit every sea except the Arctic , and though we ’ve never respect a giving birth , it ’s thought they travel to thewarm waters off Central Americato have their babies .
Very few people have seen a saola alive.Photo by Bill Robichaud, Global Wildlife Conservation viaflickr,CC BY 2.0
Saola, aka Asian unicorn,Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
handsome marine animal may be able to escape our watch in the deep and vast ocean , but mystery exist in the terrestrial landscape too , including the peculiar fount of the Asian unicorn . Also known as thesaola , it ’s one of the world ’s rarified creature and sits within the bovids , which includes other hoofed mammalian like cattle , yak , and bison .
Saola are institute in Laos and Vietnam along the Annamite Mountains where they live deep inside the timber . We have it away of their existence from camera snare , remains in villagesincluding their distinctive round horns , and selective information from local villages , but no life scientist has ever been favourable enough to see one in the wild , and certainly , nobody has ever seen one give birth .
Snow leopard,Panthera uncia
The snow Panthera pardus has been bred in zoological garden , give scientist some brainwave into the actual birthing process , but finding their natal dens in the wild has proven to be almost inconceivable . These subtle wild cats live richly in remote , mountainous terrain where they ’re incredibly hard to recognise thanks to theirremarkable camouflagethat blends into the rocky landscape painting .
The Snow Leopard Trust and Panthera did manage to findtwo KwaZulu-Natal densafter trailing wireless collared female , both of which were high up in rock canon . One of them busy a human - made shelter , while the other was tuck between a narrow careen crevice . you could see iton camera here .
Javan rhino,Rhinoceros sondaicus
The Javan rhinoceros is one of the world ’s rare bombastic animals . As one of the five remaining rhinoceros specie presently on Earth , the species is know for the comparatively short and stumpy horns found only on males . They ’re currently listed as critically endangered with quenching by theIUCN Red List , but felicitous news arrived in the class offootage of barbarian newbornsearlier this twelvemonth .
The entire furious universe exists exclusively in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java , so while nobody ’s ever report note the spectacle first - bridge player , we lie with that this must be where Javan rhinoceros are give birth . give wild animals infinite is important to their unspoilt health , and the rhino sura of Ujung Kulon are apprize from a space with the help of camera traps . It ’ll likely require a stroke of luck and some good camera placement before anybody can claim to have seen a baby Javan rhinoceros come into the sheepfold , and for now , we ’ll always have that cursed scene fromAce Venturato fill in the gaps .
Beyond satisfying our wonder , feel out when and where animals give birth is a important measure in creating an informed preservation program for endangered species . As science march on and our technologies grow ever more sophisticated , who knows ? Maybe one day we ’ll interpret the involution of reproduction in the wild with as much conviction as a humanbaby going to The Four Seasons , Orlando .
Scientists only recently discovered the dens in which female snow leopards have their cubs.Image credit: Holly S Cannon / Shutterstock.com
We’ve caught Javan rhino babies on camera.Image credit: Nishath Riswan / Shutterstock.com
