Cincinnati Zoo Welcomes

Baby Guereza Colobus

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: June 3, 2020 9:37 pm

Photo Credit: Cincinnati Zoo

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ohio, USA has capped off a busy zoo babies month with the birth of a guereza colobus monkey. Mum, Anza and dad, Tiberius welcomed the as yet unnamed baby to their family on Friday May 29th, 2020.

The baby and mum have been doing well and are starting to bond with the rest of their family. This includes the infant’s three brothers TJ, Octavius and Max.

While mum is doing a great job caring for the young, dad doesn’t contribute to raising the baby as Cincinnati Zoo’s curator of primates Ron Evans explained, “The dad, considered a senior at 25-years-old, doesn’t help with the babysitting. That’s okay, and the way it would work in the wild.  His genetic contribution is significant and his offspring add diversity to the North American Zoo population.”

Luckily colobus monkey’s exhibit a behavior called alloparenting where all females in a group share the care of the baby and as such the mother still receives help.

For the start of its life this baby colobus will be coloured white all over which gradually progresses to white and black as they age. While they are young being all white makes them easier to see as they move from parent to parent within the central African rainforests which they call home.

Video Credit: Cincinnati Zoo

The guereza colobus is part of a managed breeding program known as the Species Survival Plan (SSP) where zoos work together to ensure that they have a healthy population of monkey’s both for display and to ensure a back-up for if populations decrease in the wild. This ensures they do not need to take monkeys from the wild where they are already threatened by deforestation and illegal poaching.

“Colobus” is a latin word for deformed which refers to the lack of a thumb on their hand with a stub located in the spot where this would be. This feature assists them to grip as they leap from one tree to the next.

Learn more about the Cincinnati Zoo on their Website – Cincinnati Zoo