Visitors to Brookfield Zoo have the opportunity to see three newborn rock hyraxes at the Fragile Kingdom, which are already keeping busy by scurrying up and down the rock walls.

The closest relative to rock hyraxes are elephants. They generally weigh between nine and 12 pounds and have a stocky build similar to a guinea pig.

One of the babies was born Feb. 19, and two more arrived Monday of a different mother.

Mike Brown, lead keeper in the mammal department, said with the arrival of the babies, three generations of rock hyrax can now be seen at the zoo.

The gender of the rock hyraxes have yet to be determined.

Brown said although rock hyrax are far from an elephant’s size, they share several important factors.

They have the same foot and leg structure, as well as similar padding on the bottom of their feet. Brown said the animal’s internal design is another shared characteristic.

For being such a small mammal, the rock hyrax have a long gestation period of more than 200 days, which is another link to the elephant.

Rock hyrax are native to east Africa in both the desert and forest, and their name is derived from their ability to maneuver rocky terrain.

“They have sweat glands on the bottoms of their feet,” Brown said. “That provides the much-needed traction to quickly run up and down rock walls.”

The recent arrivals of the three babies instantly doubled the amount of rock hyrax at the zoo.

“We are rebuilding our numbers,” Brown said.

There are now six rock hyrax on exhibit at Brookfield Zoo.

Also, last Saturday, another male camel was born at the zoo. The birth follows the arrival of Rusty, who was born Feb. 28.

The newest camel was born to 3-year-old mother Kristina and father Russell, who was euthanized last year because of declining health.

Both newborn camels can be seen on exhibit.