On January 21 in the ring-tailed lemur habitat at the Houston Zoo, a tiny baby ring-tailed lemur was born to experienced mom, Cairrean. At an estimated three ounces at birth, the unnamed baby will cling to Cairrean’s chest for a couple of weeks before moving to her back and then will stay clinging to mom until he or she is several weeks old.
And, it’s a BOY! Just before Christmas, on Dec. 23, a male Coquerel’s sifaka baby was born to mom Zenobia. He has been named Dionysius by the primate keepers and is becoming increasingly more confident venturing away from his mother’s back. Coquerel’s sifaka are a species of lemur known for their unusual locomotion called vertical clinging and leaping. While upright, they bounce through the trees using the strength of their hindlegs.
The Houston Zoo is dedicated to saving animals in the wild, including endangered lemurs. Native only to the small island of Madagascar, lemurs are threatened by deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and hunting. For more details, visit www.houstonzoo.org.
Photo credit, Stephanie Adams/Houston Zoo
Video courtesy, Jeremy Stewart/Houston Zoo