ZooBorns

Golden Lion Tamarin Babies Are A Boon For Conservation

The arrival of new baby Golden Lion Tamarins on February 14th has brought particular joy to Zoo Basel. Castor (17) and Lilian (5) have become an experienced breeding pair with their second delivery of twins. Last year, they made the headlines with Basel Zoo’s first golden lion tamarin birth in twenty years. This year’s two baby Monkeys are full of energy and doing very well.

The zoo has had to wait a long time for these happy events, as the last opportunity to marvel at young golden lion tamarins in Basel was twenty years ago. The first pairing between Castor, from Sweden, and Lilian, imported from Holland, took place following an approach phase of just under two years in exile whilst the monkey house was being renovated. Apparently they now feel equally at home in the re-opened monkey house, demonstrated by the arrival of their two offspring on 14th February this year. Twin births are common in Tamarin and Marmoset pairings, and are standard for Golden Lion Tamarins.

Photo credit: Zoo Basel

Golden Lion Tamarins live in family groups of up to ten. In Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, their area of origin, a family will claim a territory covering an area at least four times the size of Basel Zoo. What is particularly fascinating about these monkeys is the way in which social frameworks vary greatly from family to family. The most common framework is a pairing for life (monogamy), followed by a female with multiple male mates (polyandry) and a male with multiple female mates (polygyny). All members of the group are needed to successfully rear young. For example, the father offers energetic help in carrying the young monkeys around on his back.

Mugwai and Gremlin Welcome Their First-born!

Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, U.K. is proud to announce the arrival of a baby Lar Gibbon born to mother Mugwai and father Gremlin on Thursday 5th January 2012. Mother and Baby are doing very well. Section Leader of Primates, Steve Goodwin says, “This is the first baby for Mugwai, but she is proving to be a really good mum. We haven't been able to get close enough to sex the baby yet, and we're excited to find out if it is a boy or a girl.”

Also known as a White-headed Gibbon, this endangered species is threatened in the wild by habitat destruction, the illegal pet trade, and poaching.

Photo credit: Paradise Wildlife Park

A New Baby Gibbon Swings Into Brookfield Zoo

The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, is happy to announce the birth of a male White-Cheeked Gibbon on November 15. The 1-month-old infant—along with his mom, Indah; dad, Benny; and 2-year-old brother, Thani—can be seen on exhibit in the zoo’s Tropic World: Asia exhibit daily between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Since his birth, the infant has been keeping a close grip on his mom. He will stay in contact and be carried by Indah for a few more months. As he gets older, he will begin to explore the habitat on his own, become more independent, and play with his brother and dad. 

All White-cheeked Gibbons are born with a blond coat matching their mother’s coat, a form of camouflage. The new male Gibbon will retain this light coloring until it begins to turn dusky when he is half a year old. By the time he reaches his first birthday, the young Gibbon will be sporting a black coat with light cheek patches, like his dad and brother. He will retain this coloration for life. Females turn black and then back to blond again, with a small patch of black on their crown, when they reach sexual maturity at around 6 to 8 years of age.

 

Indah, 23, and Benny, 26, have been together at Brookfield Zoo since August 1995. Indah was born at Minnesota Zoological Garden, and Benny was born in Leipzig, Germany. They are managed as a breeding pair based on a recommendation by the Gibbon Species Survival Plan (SSP) of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). An SSP is a cooperative conservation program for the long-term management of an endangered species’ breeding, health, and welfare in North American zoos. Jay Petersen, curator of mammals for the Chicago Zoological Society, is the Gibbon SSP coordinator. With the assistance of the Gibbon SSP Management Group, he is responsible for management goals for all gibbons in AZA zoos and for breeding recommendations to ensure the sustainability of a healthy, genetically diverse, and demographically varied North American white-cheeked gibbon population. Currently, 83 white-cheeked gibbons live in accredited North American zoos.

Little Rock Zoo Announces Little Monkey Twins

These twin Geoffroy's Marmosets were born November 21, 2011 on a very stormy night at the Little Rock Zoo. They were born to parents Becky and Santana.  In these photos they are riding on Santana (dad). Their sex remains unknown. Becky was very protective of them and was slow to let Santana carry them, but finally did.  They have an older brother, Carlos who was born in early 2010. He would like to help carry the babies, but so far has not been allowed.  They share and exhibit with a White Faced Saki family and 7 Green Iguanas.

Photo credit: Karen Caster, Primate Keeper at the Little Rock Zoo

UPDATE: Tiny Tano Now Taking Visitors!

Recently, ZooBorns reported on Tano the infant Gorilla's move from Prague Zoo to Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany. Tano has successfully completed his quarantine period and beginning today, lucky visitors can view the tiny Gorilla between 11.30 and 12 Noon. Tano can also be seen during his feeding times, although there is no set time table for these.

For the past three weeks, Tano has been cared for around the clock by surrogate mothers nurses Bea Jarczewski, Margot Federer and Thali Bauer. For now, the most important things in this little Gorilla baby's life are sleep, warmth, body contact, cuddling, vocalization, and of course, milk when he is hungry!

Photo credit: Wilhelma / Th. Bauer

Tiny Tano Finds a Home After a Rocky Start

Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany is now home to Tano, a tiny baby Gorilla who was transported from his birth place in Zoo Prague just a week ago. His inexperienced mother Bikira was unable to care for him, so Zoo Prague moved him to Wilhelma in coordination with the European Endangered Species Programme. Tiny Tano is not a complete stranger to Wilhelma, he is the great-grandson of former Stuttgart gorillas Dina and Banjo. His mother Bikira was also hand raised at Wilhelma  from 1995 to 1998. Tano has been doing very well in his new surroundings so far, being expertly hand-reared by keepers, he is sleeping well and drinking plenty of milk.

Photo credits: Wilhelma Zoo

Listen closely for the tiny breaths Tano takes as he adjusts himself in his surrogate mother's arms in this video below.

It's been quite a start to life for little Tano.  While at Zoo Prague, keepers rushed him to an incubator because without the body warmth of Bikira, he would not have survived. Attempts were made to return him to his mother's arms. Sadly, these were unsuccessful. In order to ensure the infant's survival, hand-rearing was the only option. The combination of round the clock care, a hot water bottle and a fur cloth as well as a device to mimic the beating of a gorilla mother's heart are all employed to ensure as normal an infancy as possible under the difficult circumstances.

There are a number of short videos and another picture beneath the fold...

A Baby Gorilla for Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo has a new baby - a healthy, Western Lowland Gorilla, the first to be born at the Zoo since 2005. The baby has yet to be named. First time mom, Bana, is a 16-year-old. Dad Kwan, a 22-year-old silverback, seems proud of his new offspring and has stayed protectively close to mother and baby. Born on November 19, the baby joins a troop of 7 at the Zoo. The other gorillas are "respectfully curious" according to Curator of Primates, Maureen Leahy.

“Bana has taken very well to motherhood,” said Leahy. “She is showing all of the signs of a doting new mom and is appropriately tender toward and watchful over her infant. The baby is gripping tightly to Bana and making great eye contact with her during this crucial bonding time.”

Keepers are watching closely to make sure Bana and her baby continue to do well, as the first few weeks are critical in the survival of newborn Gorillas.

Photo Credit: Lincoln Park Zoo

  

More pics below the fold...

Motherly Monkey Love at Zoological Center Tel Aviv

After nine years with no babies in the Weeper Capuchin enclosure at Israel's Zoological Center Tel Aviv, Kopatch, a 15 year old female gave birth to a tiny baby. Kopatch's rank in the group is usually very low, but since she gave birth it seems to have risen. The capuchin group arrived at the Safari on May 25th 1987, after being smuggled into Germany and confiscated by the government there. They were kept in the Hannover Zoo until they could find a new home.

Photo credits: Tibor Jager

 

Capuchins are the smartest monkeys among the "New World monkeys". They are famous for their tool use and nut cracking ability, using two stones- one as an anvil and the other to crack the nut with.

Zoo"Born"ean Orangutan at L.A. Zoo!

Orange is everywhere to be found at the Los Angeles Zoo this Halloween season starting with the newest orange-red, shaggy haired addition to the Red Ape Rainforest – a newly born Bornean Orangutan. This is the second baby for the Zoo’s female Bornean Orangutan, Kalim. She is one of four adult females in the Red Ape Rainforest. Father to the new arrival is Minyak, one of  two orangutan males at the Zoo. Guests can see the baby Orangutan and her older sister Berani who was born in 2005.

Photo credits: Tad Motoyama

 

Orangutans are native to the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.  In the Malay language orang means person and utan means forest.  Decked out in long, shaggy, orange-red hair, orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling mammals. Bornean orangutans are endangered and Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered.  In the last 60 years, it’s estimated that there has been more than a 50 percent decline in the orangutan population.  This decline is primarily attributed to habitat loss.

Surprise! It's a Tiny Pygmy Marmoset

 

A tiny baby clings to it's father's fur at the Wellington Zoo in New Zealand.... a bit of a surprise to the Keepers there Friday morning. They had suspected that now-mom Piccu was pregnant, but at some point during the night on October 6, the Zoo's 6th Pygmy marmoset came into the world.

The baby's sex won't be determined for 30-60 days when it has it's first well-baby check up. During that time, in fact up until about three months, the father will continue to carry the baby, excpet when it goes back to it's mother to nurse. Once gender is determined, the Keepers will come up with a name. 

Pygmy marmosets are the smallest monkey in the world, with an adult weighing about 3-5 ounces (85-140 gms) and from head to tail reaching the length of about 13 inches (330 mm). They are not listed as Endangered but they are in danger of becoming such due primarily to habitat destruction.  The fact that they are extrememly adaptable to their environment helps quite a bit. They live in the Amazon rainforest of Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru and can be found high up in trees near riverbeds.

Photo Credit: Wellington Zoo