WEST BRIGHTON — The Staten Island Zoo has a new addition to its family — a baby goose named Toolka.
The Cape Barren gosling — one of the rarest species of geese in the world — was born on Jan. 25 at the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Connecticut and transported to Staten Island.
She was named after the Australian aboriginal word for her species, Zoo officials said.
The Cape Barren originates from the northeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. Its numbers got so low in the 1950s that biologists feared the species would become extinct.
After conservation efforts, Cape Barren geese are no longer in danger of extinction, but they still remain one of the rarest geese species in the world, according to the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
Toolka is currently living in the Zoo's nursery, but she should be walking around with zoo keepers when the weather gets warmer, according to a statement from the Staten Island Zoo.
