5 new primates born in Fota
There’s been some monkey business in East Cork and this week Fota Wildlife Park announced the birth of three endangered baby Ring-tailed Lemurs and two baby Black-and-white Colobus Monkeys.
The five primates were born as part of breeding programmes for threatened species in European zoos.
Fota Wildlife Park has been involved in species conservation since it opened in 1983, 40 years ago. To mark this anniversary, Fota Wildlife Park is bringing back a live programme of events for Easter including wildlife talks, animal feedings times and live workshops.
Over the next two weeks, visitors can take part in an interactive workshop on plants and biodiversity with Peter Dowdall, learn about the wonders of the animal world with daily wildlife talks hosted by the Education Department in Fota Wildlife Park, watch the rangers as they feed the animals in the park and enjoy award winning Learnit Lego workshops. All events are free with the admission to the park and full details are on www.fotawildlife.ie.
March has been a busy month in Fota Wildlife Park with the birth of five new primates.
Lead Ranger Teresa Power said: “We are absolutely delighted with the birth of three male Ring-tailed Lemur babies, which is an endangered species. Aqua gave birth to twins on 11 March and Brida gave birth to one baby on 17 March.
She continued: “These are very important births as the Lemur population on their native island of Madagascar has been declining alarmingly. The Ring-tailed Lemurs can be seen by the public in the Madagascan Village, a purpose-built habitat, designed to house the endangered lemurs and highlight the plight of biodiversity on the island of Madagascar, which has lost 90% of its forests cover in the last 200 years, and 80% of animal and plant life there faces extinction.”
The Ring-tailed Lemurs have been-ever present at Fota Wildlife Park since it opened its gates in 1983. Back in 1983, the Ring-tailed lemur was listed as least concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List despite being legally trapped for its fur and food. In 2020, the Ring-tailed Lemur’s IUCN status was upgraded to endangered due to the wild population declining and less than 8 subpopulations of 100 animals. There are now less than 2,000 Ring-tailed Lemurs left in the wild.
On 9 and 15 March, two baby Black-and-white Colobus Monkeys were also born in Fota Wildlife Park. With their beautiful white coats they resemble baby lambs.
Lead Ranger Teresa Power said: “Even at this young age the baby colobus monkeys are very active, and they can be viewed jumping and climbing through the viewing window of their house just inside the main entrance to Fota Wildlife Park. They will be introduced to the outdoor habitat in the coming weeks once the weather improves.
“It is interesting for us to see that the baby colobus monkeys are learning what their mothers eat by watching them closely as they pick up various pieces of food mainly leaves and vegetables.”
The Black-and-white colobus are distinctive looking animals with a long mane of black and white hair, native to the tropical forests of Africa. The native habitat of the Colobus monkey is threatened by agricultural developments and timber production.
Fota Wildlife Park is open daily from 9.30am, see the full list of feeding times and Easter activities on www.fotawildlife.ie.