This is Jesse, a 3-week-old fruit bat. His mom died after giving birth, so he is being raised by keepers at the Toronto Zoo (video and story inside)

Article with story, video and more pictures

In late January, African straw-colored fruit bat Jessica gave birth. At 18 years old (the average life expectancy for this species), she is one of the oldest straw-colored fruit bats to give birth in human care. Of all mammals, fruit bats have the largest-sized babies in comparison to their body size: a female that weighs 300g will give birth to a pup that weighs 50g!

Sadly, the natural weight of the pup may have contributed to Jessica experiencing a critical injury after giving birth. She was humanely euthanized due to the significant nature of the injury and the very poor chance of making a recovery.

The African rainforest team immediately stepped in to begin hand-rearing the pup, now named Jesse in honor of his mom. He receives around-the-clock care, including feedings every four hours: the zoo’s nutrition team designed a special milk formula that is made fresh every 24 hours just for him. Although to date he has only been eating formula, he will soon be introduced to pureed fruit.