Your morning adorable: Peninsular pronghorn twins at the L.A. Zoo
The rare peninsular pronghorn once numbered in the thousands in its native Mexico, but as a result of hunting and agriculture, the species is now critically endangered. Only about 150 to 200 of the species are thought to remain in the wild, and all are confined to a small section of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.
The L.A. Zoo is the only American institution to successfully breed the pronghorns in captivity and has had two successful births so far this year. The most recent birth yielded male twins, shown here.
While pronghorns are often called American antelope, they're actually classified into a unique family called Antilocapridae. There are five pronghorn subspecies; besides the Peninsular pronghorn, there are Wyoming pronghorn, Oregon pronghorn, Mexican pronghorn and Sonoran pronghorn. Pronghorns are among the world's fastest land animals and can sprint at speeds that nearly rival that of the cheetah. But pronghorns can maintain high speeds much longer than a cheetah can; they've been clocked going 36 miles per hour for four miles straight.
More photos of these babies after the jump!
-- Lindsay Barnett
Photo credit: David McNew / Getty Images