COLOBUS MONKEY BORN AT FRESNO CHAFFEE ZOO

Fresno, CA – Officials at Fresno Chaffee Zoo are excited to announce the birth of a black-and-white colobus monkey. Born Tuesday, December 16th, the new infant currently weighs approximately 2 pounds. The sex of the infant has not yet been determined.

“It might take a while for the zookeeper staff to determine the sex of the new offspring due to the fact that the mother is a great mom,” said Dan Subaitis, general curator at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. “Until the mother loosens her grip on the baby and allows it to explore a bit, even in her arms, it’s hard to get a good look.”

Unlike both of their offspring, neither colobus monkey parent was born at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. Elvis, 22, was born at Brookfield Zoo and was transferred to Fresno on October 7, 2010. Jasiri, 7, was born at Utah’s Hogle Zoo and was transferred to Fresno on November 17, 2010.

This is the second offspring for the pair. Mokiki, born April 14, 2013 at Fresno Chaffee Zoo, was the first offspring produced by the duo and is now the older sister of the new infant. As the older sister, Mokiki will be able to help raise her new sibling. “Colobus monkeys do live in groups and siblings do take part in helping to raise other young,” said Katrina Mehling, zookeeper at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. “Mokiki is a pretty rambunctious little monkey but I think it will go well. Jasari has already been disciplining Mokiki and teaching her what to do. She’s an awesome mom.

” Fresno Chaffee Zoo now has four colobus monkeys – one adult make, one adult female, a juvenile female and the new infant. Zoo visitors can catch a glimpse of all of the colobus monkeys, including the new infant, in their exhibit which is shared with two swamp monkeys.

Colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) are highly social animals which can be found throughout various treetops in equatorial Africa. Because colobus monkeys have black bodies and long white tails, they are easily distinguishable. The species is considered “in decline” as they are threatened by loss of forest habitat across equatorial Africa.