An extremely endangered species, the crowned lemur, has welcomed a baby at Bristol Zoo. Mum Tiaka and her partner Loko are the proud parents of the new arrival who was born on July 10th.
The first time parents moved to Bristol on Valentine’s Day last year as part of a breeding program for their species.
Assistant Curator of Mammals for Bristol Zoo, Lynsey Bugg said, “Tiako is demonstrating very strong maternal capabilities for a first time mum, whilst Loko is doing a good job of playing the protective father. We are unsure of the sex of the baby as yet but as time goes by and as Tiako and Loko become less protective we will be able to see whether their little one is male or female.”
Currently the baby can be seen attached to the front of Tiako where she will spend her first few weeks. Once she becomes independent and confident she will move onto mum’s back.
“We are delighted to welcome Tiako and Loko’s first baby to the Bristol Zoo family. With the species in the trouble it is, having a population of crowned lemurs in human care is growing more and more important. There are as few as 80 crowned lemurs in Europe and this is the first ever crowned lemur birth at Bristol Zoo. A successful birth such as this one is a great step forward for the conservation of this species,” added Bugg.
Crowned lemurs are named for the orange-brown ‘crown’ of fur which is found on the top of their grey furred bodies.
Wild crowned lemurs are found only in a small patch of Madagascar’s forests. The already small population continues to decline as a result of heavy mining, illegal logging, the pet trade and sustenance hunting.
Photo Credit: Bristol Zoo/ Miriam Haas
