Baby Animals Ready to Greet Colombus Zoo Guests

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: April 28, 2022 3:49 pm

Guests visiting the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium this spring will meet a number of additional animals with several species growing their population in recent months.

“We love seeing these healthy spring arrivals, and with each birth we celebrate the amazing diversity of wildlife from around the world,” said Dr. Jan Ramer, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s Senior Vice President of Animal Care and Conservation.

“Spring is a great time to visit the Zoo to relax and enjoy the beautiful grounds, and to learn more about our incredible animals and ways can all do our part to help protect these species and their habitats.”

Below we highlight three of the new arrivals to keep an eye out for on your next visit.

A colobus monkey named Jif by keepers was the first birth for 2022 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio

Photo Credit: Amanda Carberry/ Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Black and White Colobus Monkey

The first new arrival for 2022 at the Colombus Zoo and Aquarium was a black and white colobus infant. Born behind the scenes on January 15 the new arrival was named Jif by keepers.

On warmer days guests may see Jif and his experienced mother, Jabari, and father, Sekani, in the Zoo’s Congo Expedition region with the troop that includes two other females.

Keepers report that the new arrival is growing well.

Black and white colobus are found in Central Africa. Their name, “colobus” means mutilated one and refers to their lack of a thumb. They instead have a small nub with a nail attached which can be used to grab trees as they move through the forest.

Learn more about Colobus Monkeys here – Black and White Colobus Monkey Fact File | The Animal Facts

A keeper holds the two feathertail glider joeys born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio

Photo Credit: Grahm S. Jones/ Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Feathertail Glider Joeys

Colombus Zoo is one of only two zoos in North America breeding the feathertail glider making the two babies born this year even more exciting. Born in January the new arrivals bring the colony to 27.

As adults feathertail gliders are about the size of a mouse but juveniles can be as small as a grain of rice when they are born.

Despite their small size these animals are rather amazing and can run across glass due to their sweat glands on their toes which act like suction cups. Between their front and back legs are folds of skins which can act like a parachute as they move between the trees.

Joeys first emerge from the pouch at 63 days old and will join the rest of the colony in their exhibit when they are around 2.5 months old.

Guests visiting the zoo can meet the gliders in the Nocturnal habitat within the zoo’s Islands exhibits.

Learn more about Feathertail Gliders here – Feathertail Glider Fact File | The Animal Facts

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Cownose Ray Pup

In the Adventure Cove section of the zoo visitors to the interactive Stingray Bay habitat will meet two cownose ray pups. Born on February 7 and 18 the pair are currently living in a playpen in the middle of the touch pool which offers a safe space in which they can grow. This area also allows keepers to monitor their growth and food intake.

Cownose ray pups are born live having hatched from their egg while still inside their mothers body. At birth they already have their full barb and are ready to defend themselves.

Guests visiting the Columbus Zoo are given a chance to interact with the cownose ray and southern stingrays which live in Stingray Bay.

Learn more about the Columbus Zoo on their website – Columbus Zoo

A cownose ray pup explores the playpen at Stingray Bay at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio

Photo Credit: Grahm S. Jones/ Columbus Zoo and Aquarium