Good Things Come In Small Packages
Posted at 5:01 pm March 7, 2007 by Janet Hawes
Installment #1: Marbelina and her baby
The endangered Allen’s swamp monkey inhabits northeastern Congo and northwestern Zaire. The San Diego Zoo houses several groups of these beautiful and intelligent animals. In 2005, we received a female named Marbelina who arrived from the Metro Zoo in Richmond, Virginia. Marbelina was minus her right rear leg, a result of an accident when she was just a baby.
Marbelina was introduced to the group of swamp monkeys housed in Ituri Forest and adjusted well. On October 23, 2006 she gave birth to a baby who tenaciously clung to her. Right away keepers noted that something was amiss with the youngster: although the baby was able to hold on to Marbelina, the infant was abnormally small. By the end of the second day, the baby appeared weak. Concern was sufficient to warrant an exam at the hospital. The tiny infant was weighed in at an astonishing 4.8 ounces or 137 grams (normal birth weight for a baby swamp monkey is around 10 to 14 ounces or 300 to 400 grams).
Despite its size, the baby was found to be generally healthy, had milk in her stomach, and showed no signs that she was born prematurely. To show her resolve, the baby began suckling vigorously when returned to her mother. Marbelina and her tiny baby were returned to the group at Ituri Forest where a close eye was kept on the pair. All went reasonably well for the next month. Marbelina was a good mother, but unfortunately began overgrooming her baby. Keepers began to see some hair loss from the constant maternal care.
At one month of age things changed. Marbelina had so seriously overgroomed the baby that there were several wounds that needed treatment. Our veterinarians again examined the infant, but this time they discovered that the baby had contracted pneumonia. The tiny infant was placed on antibiotics and transferred to the nursery to be hand reared.
When we first saw Kinah in the nursery (a name that means “willful” in Swahili) we were disheartened by her tiny size and poor body condition. Weighing only 6.1 ounces (175 grams) and processing almost no body fat, she was a bedraggled sight. Kinah was missing patches of hair all over her body and had several wounds, including a torn earflap on the left side. Even in her fragile condition, Kinah showed us that she was made of tough stuff: from a fragile and weak baby came a tiny but determined voice. Kinah wanted to live. What Kinah lacked in physical strength, she more than made up for with a will of iron and a healthy supply of determination.
Janet Hawes is a senior keeper in the primate nursery of the Children’s Zoo at the San Diego Zoo.
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March 7th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Janet, thank you so much for giving us the background of little Kinah. Watching her in the Nursery, one would never know just how weak and sick she was. She is such a joy to watch! And I hope she eventually will be able to return to her mother and the rest of the group.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Poor thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope she is doing much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is her mom sad that shes gone? Good Luck with the baby!!!!
March 8th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Janet, talk about leaving an audience hanging! I couldn’t believe when I got to the end of the blog and didn’t get the rest of the story! I am very anxious to read your next installment.
March 8th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Is this the baby that was shown in a photo a few weeks ago being fed in the nursery? She does have a will to live, and hopefully her mom is not too distraught without her. Will Marbelina take to her when she is well enough and big enough to be returned to Ituri Forest? Or will you have to send her to some other exhibit or another zoo when she is old enough?
I am from Richmond Virginia and have not been to the Metro Zoo. Shame on me. I need to check it out. I read that they have recently acquired many more animals. It is a good 45 minute drive, so I will have to make a trip out to the country and visit them soon.