COLUMBUS, Ohio — A rare baby echidna, known as a puggle, has survived infancy at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, marking a historic milestone for the facility.
According to a statement from the zoo, this is the first time a recently hatched echidna has permanently transitioned out of its mother’s pouch and begun to grow its spines at the Columbus Zoo. The milestone was announced Monday.
“Puggles … are extremely rare in the United States, with only a small number of Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facilities caring for the species and even fewer successfully breeding them,” the zoo said.
Short-beaked echidnas are native to Australia, Tasmania, and parts of Papua New Guinea. As monotremes — egg-laying mammals — they are one of only five such species, alongside the platypus and four types of echidnas.
“These animals are defined by their powerful claws and a body covered in spines to help them survive attacks from predators,” said Amber Kyle, senior specialist with the Columbus Zoo’s Wild Encounters Outreach team. “They’re like little armored tanks. They might remind you of a porcupine or hedgehog, but they are a different creature entirely.”
Echidnas also have an elongated snout and a long, sticky tongue used to feed on ants and termites.
The new puggle is the offspring of Edna and Elonzo, both ambassador animals at the zoo. Their journey to parenthood was not straightforward — a DNA test was required to determine their sexes and confirm they could be a breeding pair, said Emily Yunker, assistant curator for Wild Encounters.
“Everything is internal, and even with CT imaging, it can be difficult to tell,” Yunker said. “It’s not unusual in this species to later confirm sex through genetic testing.”
Once it was confirmed the pair could breed, the zoo launched a breeding program.
“That was the moment everything shifted,” Yunker said. “We realized we had a unique opportunity to establish a new breeding program at our zoo, which doesn’t come along very often.”
The pair’s first puggle, born in December 2023, was the first echidna birth at the Columbus Zoo, but the baby did not survive long enough to be placed in a nesting burrow. The zoo team then made adjustments in preparation for another attempt.
“We looked at everything,” Kyle said. “Diet, habitat setup, timing, environmental conditions. Anything we could evaluate or refine, we did.”
On Dec. 8, 2025, another puggle was discovered during a routine pouch check of Edna. The baby was placed in a nesting burrow and later emerged from its mother’s pouch, a critical stage in its development.
“This puggle is doing very well,” Kyle said. “We’re seeing growth, and the behavior from Edna and her puggle looks exactly like what we want to see at this stage.”
Currently, Edna and her puggle are not part of the zoo’s outreach program as the care team focuses on the baby’s development, including weaning and behavioral progress, according to a zoo spokesperson.
“It’s so rewarding to see what the team has accomplished,” Yunker said. “We’ve worked really hard and learned so much along the way.”
The zoo has not yet determined the puggle’s sex or chosen a name, but plans to share updates as information becomes available.