PORTLAND, Ore. -- Three new faces at the Oregon Zoo are debuting to the public, warts and all.

Marge, a rare Visayan warty pig, gave birth to three piglets at the zoo Sept. 9, just weeks after zoo officials confirmed she was pregnant.

Courtesy: Oregon Zoo

A rare Visayan warty pig gave birth to three piglets, a male and two females, at the zoo Sept. 9.

"We couldn't be more pleased," said Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "These new babies will be charismatic ambassadors for their species."

Visayan warty pigs are considered critically endangered. They are native to only six islands of the Philippines and have become extinct on four of them.

Farming on the islands has destroyed much of their natural habitat, leaving only small pockets of land available to the species. Zoo officials say remaining populations are isolated from each other and face dwindling food sources.

"It's very exciting anytime you can breed an endangered species that has such a tough time out in the wild," animal keeper Bonnie Chatham-Stephens said. "We're hoping we can help save another species and just help do our part to improve their lot in life."

Zoo vets didn’t even know Marge was pregnant until late August, when a routine physical revealed two late-term fetus skeletons.

"Our first indication that Marge was pregnant was that she was looking a little rounder. Another indication is their teats develop about four weeks prior to birth, and we started noticing that as well,” Chatham-Stephens said.

Marge was isolated by zoo officials after the exam and she quickly began preparing for birth, nesting in a farrowing box.

Zoo keepers say the three piglets -- one male and two females -- are vocal and nursing well. Each one weighed between 1 and 2 pounds during their most recent exam.

Marge and her new family are ready to join other warty pigs in the zoo’s Island Pigs of Asia exhibit.