Vets have scored a success with the birth of a rare monkey at Dubai Zoo. A female Dent's Monkey is the latest in a list of nearly a dozen new arrivals at the zoo this summer.
Visitors have the treat of seeing the mother taking care of her three-day-old baby, holding her close to her chest at all times, feeding her and not allowing any of the zoo staff to touch her.
"We are very pleased with this birth as we have been breeding this endangered species for five years after five of them were confiscated at Dubai International Airport in July 1999," said Dr Raza Khan, head of Zoo section of the municipality. "We now have nine of them, including the newborn."
Dent's Monkey, also known as Dent's Mona, is a colourful tree-dwelling mammal that lives in the riverine forests of southwestern Sudan, eastern Zaire and the southeastern region of Central African Republic.
Their long tails, coupled with strong gripping hands and feet make them agile and fast. They also have flexible wrists and ankles and can leap great distances between branches.
They are becoming more endangered because they rely on an unbroken, dense canopy of trees for food and shelter. They are found in a range of primary, secondary and gallery forests, including forests near gardens and croplands.
In the wild, they have a mixed diet of animal matter, fruit and vegetation. They normally weigh 2.5 kg to 6 kg and are 70cm to 90cm long. Their recorded life span in the zoo is about 30 years and births follow a five to six-month pregnancy.
Dr Khan said this summer was a happy one for both the zoo staff and its visitors because 11 births have been recorded among the 1,000 animals at the zoo.
"All the births were during the past three months and were normal. The mothers and babies are doing extremely well despite the harsh weather," he said.
The zoo has seen a 21-per-cent rise in visitor figures this year, Dr Khan said.
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