CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on Friday, February 3, welcomed a new baby, a 3.5-ounce white-faced saki monkey.
The baby, of undetermined gender, is currently a fixture on mom, 12-year-old Lopez. The infant grabs hold of her fur and can ride on just about any part of her, hanging from back, belly or side, for example.
Mom came from Pittsburgh and this is her first successful birth.
Luis, 13, is the dad, born at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
There are 138 white-faced sakis at 43 institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Tad Schoffner, the zoo’s curator of animals, said the AZA species survival plan recognizes Lopez as the top genetic specimen, with dad ranking not far behind.
Schoffner said the parents are coveted because they less related to others sakis in North America, assuring healthy genetic diversity.
The white-faced saki is a New World monkey found in northeastern South America, in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana.
Dad weighs 5.8 pounds and like all males of the species has black fur covering his body and tawny and white fur covering his face. Lopez, the mom, weighs 4.3 pounds, and has gray and brown fur covering her entire face and body.
In captivity, they can live 20 to 30 years.
Schoffner said their diet here is composed of nutritional monkey biscuits as well as fruit, vegetables and meal worms, and are especially fond of nuts.
February 3 was a special day, not only because of the birth of the baby, but also because it was mom’s birthday as well.
The birth occurred on exhibit in the Primate Cat & Acquatics Building. That means mom, dad and baby are all on display.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
