As many of you may remember, last July we were astonished to find our adult female Ring-tailed lemur “Cairrean” giving birth out on the exhibit in the middle of the afternoon. Most of our primate babies are born overnight, inside the nighthouse (with the exception of a few species that are documented to have more of a tendency to give birth during the day, like Pied tamarins and Patas monkeys.) Well, she’s done it again! Nine months after little “Howie” made his appearance into the world, Cairrean went into labor out in the lemur yard and produced another infant at 7 PM on April 11th. Keepers Amy and Mary were bringing the group inside at the end of the day as usual and wondered why Cairrean wouldn’t come in, and they went outside to look and discovered right away what the issue was – a brand new baby that she was still cleaning off. The Keepers had to wait until she was finished making sure the baby was properly washed and groomed before she brought it inside, clinging to mama’s belly like a ring-tailed tick.
Photo by Dale Martin
Despite the surprise of finding her giving birth while the sun was still out yet again, we did surmise that she was pregnant prior to the happy event. Primate Keepers weigh their animals monthly, and Cairrean is typically a very svelte 2.5kg (about 5.5 pounds.) However, in the past few months she had gained a bit of weight and was 2.8kg (a little over 6 pounds) a couple of weeks prior to the birth. But, since her last baby was born in July, we really didn’t expect the next one to arrive as early as April! Our animals always have a way of making things interesting for us.
We are all quite delighted with the appearance of this new little one, as Howie very much needs a playmate these days. He has been trying to wrestle with mom and dad lately and they are not all that enthused about his hijinks, particularly when he hangs off their tails and swings like a trapeze artist. Very soon, the new infant will grow up to the size where big brother can enjoy his company and Howie will have someone equally interested in the type of rough-and-tumble play that young primates typically engage in.
Photo by Dale Martin
For now, however, the new baby is happily ensconced in mama’s lap, where the food supply is plentiful and maternal affection is infinitely available. You can visit our expanding lemur family at the Wortham World of Primates, in the heart of the Zoo.
