Baby-primate boom for capital’s zoo
There’s baby fever at Wellington Zoo, with a baby chimpanzee, newborn cotton-top tamarin and triplet pygmy marmosets joining the pack.
The pygmy marmoset babies were a real win for the zoo — it’s the first-time triplets have survived in Australasia since 1991, when a set was born in Perth.
Wellington Zoo animal care manager Nic Dunn said while it was not rare for triplets to be born, it was rare for them to survive.
“It is uncommon for parents to rear three — usually one dies.”
Born to second-time parents mum Maya and dad Tunche, the babies were growing nicely.
Both parents take turns carrying their babies around, but Tunche does the lion’s share of the work.
Dunn said the babies were “running about, coming off their backs, eating on their own. While they’re still going to mum for milk, for the most part they’re independent.”
There’s also a baby cotton-top tamarin. Dunn said this was exciting because cotton-tops were one of the most endangered species on the planet.
“Back in the 60s and 70s, 40,000 were taken into the [United] States for biomedical research for colon cancer so now there’s only 6000 left in the wild.”
The baby was born in early June to Celeste and Soto, and the pair share the load of carrying baby around with their first-born son, German. All three take turns carting the newest arrival around.
Dunn said the latest baby has not yet been named because, for cotton-top tamarin, the zoo partners with its conservation partners in Colombia and allows them to name the new arrivals.
Lastly, there’s Akida the baby chimp — slightly more developed at 8 months old. Akida has just started walking on his own but still sticks close to mum Sally.