We can't resist devoting a major photo story each spring to baby giraffes, meerkat pups, gorilla twins, and other adorable newcomers at U.S. zoos—and each spring, it gets a bit more ridiculous. In 2008, we published New Kids on the Block and a look back at 2007's babies, Where Are They Now?

Well, it turns out there's an even more shameless publication that devotes itself entirely to the zoo babies beat: Zooborns.com. The blog publishes frequent photo and video updates from around the globe.

Consider the tale of Pingu, an African penguin born at the Living Coasts attraction in Torquay, a town in southeast England. Pingu, who was glum after being separated from its family because a sibling continually hogged all the food, "has found companionship"—with a penguin stuffed animal that staff bought at the gift shop. (Just try looking at these photos of the fast friends without cracking a smile…)

The blog makes it easy to search by zoo or by animal. Pandas brings up news about Lun Lun, a giant panda we've profiled at Zoo Atlanta. When we left off, her daughter Mei Lan, 110 pounds, had just been weaned and was exploring the habitat on her own. Apparently, she matured just in time—Mei Lun has been looking after a baby brother for a few months now.

Check back around May for our own Zoo Babies 2009 installment.

[Via VSL:WEB]