Belfast Zoo welcomes adorable baby colobus monkey 'Akinya'
Just look at that cheeky grin 🐵
Belfast zoo is delighted to announce the birth of an Eastern black and white colobus monkey, Akinya, meaning ‘born in the morning’.
Born to parents Zola and Zulu, on the 17th of October 2024, Colobus babies are born pure white and gradually change to their adult colour as they get older.
New-born colobus monkeys are closely looked after by the group, and for that reason, keepers do not yet know the sex of the baby yet. The mother is assisted by other members of the group in the day to day caring for the baby, as this offers younger members an opportunity to practice caring for a baby.
Colobus babies are born pure white and gradually change to their adult colour as they get older. New-born colobus monkeys cling to their mother for the first few months. For this reason, the keepers have not yet been able to identify the gender of the baby.
Zoo manager, Alyn Cairns said, “After the birth of three colobus monkeys in September 2023 we are delighted to welcome another baby to the group. Parents and baby are doing extremely well. The baby has learned to hold onto mums’ fur as the explore the habitat together. Our adults have been working together to raise the babies. This style of parenting is called ‘alloparenting’. This allows mum to pass on her experience to younger female members of the group. You will often see younger sisters carrying the baby which gives them experience to be successful mothers as they get older.
This species was once subjected to intense hunting due to its exquisite fur. Currently, the primary danger facing the colobus is the loss of its habitat. As human populations continue to grow and expand, forests are being cleared to accommodate agriculture, urban development, and infrastructure. Consequently, they are swiftly losing their natural habitats because of unsustainable development practices.
We have an extremely successful family group of colobus monkeys. Belfast zoo has had 53 Colobus monkeys born over the years. This is the 4th baby for experienced dad Zulu and 5th for mum Zola.
Visitors of the zoo can catch a glimpse of the new baby in the monkey house.
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