Baby Boom Continues at Bronx Zoo
April 26, 2010
The Bronx Zoo recently announced two very special additions to its family – a new baby brown collared lemur in the zoo’s Madagascar! exhibit and a baby silver leaf langur in JungleWorld. Both recently born at WCS’s Bronx Zoo, and both are special species as there are less than 50 of each in captivity world wide.
hard to spot in all this fur, but this little lemur is clinging tight to Mom!
The silver leaf langur baby has a striking orange color in comparison to its parents’ silver coats and will continue to stand out until its fur changes color somewhere between three to five months of age.
Photo Credits: Julie Larsen Maher © Wildlife Conservation Society
The brown collared lemur is a female that has yet to be named and is the second born to her parents, Jean Luc and Vera. Brown collared lemurs remain active year round in both day and night and are native to the tropical forests of southeastern Madagascar where their range is being destroyed by charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture. This devastating loss of habitat is the primary reason the species is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The silver leaf langur baby has a striking orange color in comparison to its parents’ silver coats and will continue to stand out until its fur changes color somewhere between three to five months of age. Its mother, Ruby, has kept her very close and has been caring for the new youngster in the trees of JungleWorld at WCS’s Bronx Zoo making it difficult for keepers to determine the baby’s sex. Native to Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, nearly 80 percent of the langur’s diet consists of leaves. Silver leaf langurs are listed as “near threatened” by IUCN and are part of the Species Survival Program (SSP). WCS’s Bronx Zoo has the largest captive breeding population of silver leaf langurs in North America.
The silver leaf langur baby has a striking orange color in comparison to its parents’ silver coats and will continue to stand out until its fur changes color somewhere between three to five months of age. Its mother, Ruby, has kept her very close and has been caring for the new youngster in the trees of JungleWorld at WCS’s Bronx Zoo making it difficult for keepers to determine the baby’s sex. Native to Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, nearly 80 percent of the langur’s diet consists of leaves. Silver leaf langurs are listed as “near threatened” by IUCN and are part of the Species Survival Program (SSP). WCS’s Bronx Zoo has the largest captive breeding population of silver leaf langurs in North America.