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Lowry Park Zoo welcomes spring babies
Recent births bring warthog piglets and zoo’s first titi monkey and red-tailed guenon.
Article published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/070808_lefest-01.jpg) |
| A baby titi monkey named Peanut rides on his parent’s back at the Lowry Park Zoo. |
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TAMPA – A teeny titi monkey, a threatened red-tailed guenon and two shy warthog piglets are the newest residents of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, delivered just in time to be considered spring offspring.
Two of the zoo’s newest and smallest residents, a pair of titi monkeys (pronounced tee tee), became parents on April 17 to a very small infant, aptly named “Peanut.” There are nearly 30 different subspecies of titis found throughout South America. This particular subspecies is also known as the White-eared titi, the Bolivian titi or Bolivian Gray titi.
Titi monkeys, weighing only about two pounds as an adult, are diurnal (active during the day) and arboreal (tree-dwelling). They can easily jump from branch to branch, earning them their German name, “jumping monkey.” Titi monkeys live in small family groups that consist of parents and their offspring, averaging about three to seven animals. The zoo’s titis can typically be seen in the trees in their exhibit, sitting or sleeping with their tails entwined.
A baby red-tailed guenon monkey (also known as Schmidt’s spot-nosed guenon) arrived overnight on June 13. The new mom, “Njano,” and baby, “Stewie,” spent their first days together nursing, resting and bonding inside the guenons den and are now venturing outside for several hours a day.
With the new birth, the zoo has a total of seven guenons representing two species, Wolf’s and red-tailed. The small primates (approximately 6-8 pounds when full grown) were initially found as bushmeat trade orphans in the markets of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The guenons adjusted very well to their home at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, where they enjoy a large exhibit with climbing structure, ropes and swings to stimulate natural behaviors. The guenons live together in a social group, as they would in the wild, and spend their days jumping, swinging and foraging for fruits, leaves and insects. The species is considered threatened and is part of the AZA Species Survival Plan, a cooperative conservation and breeding program designed to carefully maintain a healthy, self-sustaining captive population.
The zoo’s warthog couple, “Pogo” and “Sybill,” became parents again overnight on June 12. Mother is currently caring for two piglets whom she has hidden in the den, so zookeepers are keeping their distance to allow for mother-baby bonding.
Sows isolate to give birth, then stay inside the den nurturing the hairless piglets for the first week. Piglets normally remain in or near their burrows for six to seven weeks, after which they follow mother everywhere, filing behind her in a fixed order. The piglets will begin grazing within two to three weeks of leaving the den, continue nursing from three to six weeks and are weaned by six months.
Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo is located at 1101 W. Sligh Avenue in Tampa, one mile west of I-275 (exit 48). The Zoo is open 7 days a week, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours on select nights during the summer. Parking is free. The zoo is a nonsmoking facility with smoking allowed only in limited designated areas as marked by visitor information signs.
Visit LowryParkZoo.com or call 813-935-8552 for more information.
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Article published on Tuesday, July 8, 2008
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