You Ginger Monkey! Mum Rejects New Arrival Posted on March 25th
10:08am UK, Tuesday March 24, 2009
A rare ginger monkey born at an Australian zoo has made its public debut - after being rejected by its mother.
A very shy looking Elka makes her debut at Taronga Zoo
Elka, a Francois Langur monkey, is being hand-raised by staff at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.
Her birth came as somewhat of a surprise to zoo keepers who were not entirely sure the mother, Saigon, was even pregnant.
They will now temporarily look after the orange-haired leaf-eating monkey because of her mother’s rejection.
Elka’s parents have black fur but it is common for infants to be bright orange.
It is thought the colour helps parents to spot their infants in the wild.
An adult francois langur monkey
“Primates are quite an intelligent group of animals, a lot of their social development depends on learning,” senior primate keeper Mandy Mclellan said.
“Often first time mums might not have have enough exposure to other females giving birth so they haven’t learned social skills and haven’t learned what they need to do with these little babies.”
Keepers will raise Elka for many months, feeding her baby formula every three hours, and prepare her for reintroduction to her parents.
The birth is significant because the species is very rare and under great pressure from loss of habitat and poachers.
A recent census of the monkeys showed that despite being widespread throughout Vietnam and China, there could be as few as 1,000 of the species left in the wild.
Taronga’s life sciences general manager, Cameron Kerr, said: “Taronga’s keepers were prepared and are managing the difficult process of hand-raising the langur… as the species faces real risk of extinction in the wild.”