Baby Squirrel Monkey Boom At Zoo Vienna
January 01, 2022
There's something going on in the Zoo Vienna Schönbrunn’s monkey house! Within just a few weeks, several adorable young animals have seen the light of day in the squirrel monkeys. The little ones still claw their way through the dense fur of their mothers and let themselves be carried through the facility on their backs. In between, they climb on the mother's stomach to be suckled. After about four to five months, the monkeys will then go on a discovery tour alone and also eat independently. "About a year ago, a new bright group of monkeys with several females from England and a male from the Czech Republic moved in with us. That's why we are now particularly happy about the next generation. Our monkey house has become a real nursery," says animal keeper Melanie Tötzl.
The squirrel monkeys native to the South American rainforest prefer to climb at lofty heights and jump swiftly from branch to branch. "They are extremely skilled climbers. Their long tail helps them to keep their balance," explains Zoo Director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck. "By the way, in relation to their body weight, the curious monkeys have the largest brain of all primates. In the wild, they live together in large family groups, where the female animals have the say." The monkeys owe their eerie name to their skull-like facial drawing, which is already clearly visible in the young animals. The new animal group came to Schönbrunn Zoo at the end of 2020 as part of the European Conservation Breeding Programme (EEP).
Photos: Daniel Zupanc.