More Monkeys!
Posted at 3:09 pm June 18, 2007 by Nerissa Foland
An exciting change to Ituri Forest at the San Diego Zoo is the recent addition of more Allen’s swamp monkeys. Our older De Brazza’s guenon female, Sprite, was showing signs of anxiety from being in an exhibit with young swamp monkeys and otters. Discussions began about what animals WOULD enjoy living in Ituri Forest. It was decided to introduce another group of Allen’s swamp monkeys to the four young ones we currently have to make a very nice group of eight. The DeBrazza’s guenons Sprite and Chumu were relocated to another area of the Zoo and swamp monkeys Mr. Toad, Dixie, Bunzi, and baby Kinah (yes, little Kinah from the Children’s Zoo) came to us! (Read Kinah Moves Out.)
For the first few days, we let everyone get a good look at each other inside and let Mr. Toad’s group out to explore their new exhibit, sans otters! By the end of the week however, the interactions between the two groups of swamp monkeys seemed to be going very well, so we opened the doors to the exhibit to allow the group of eight plenty of space to go where they chose. We were all very pleased to see the positive interactions and new friendships bloom! Little Ota is already very much in love with the big, handsome Mr. Toad. At the same time, Kinah has received a lot of attention from the younger swamps, with them taking turns trying to hold her and carry her about!
The next morning it was time to open the doors to the otter bedrooms….and out they came! Mr. Toad spent a good deal of time the first day just watching these new animals play in and around the water- he’d never seen an otter before! He took it all in stride, however, and a little over a week after the introduction to the exhibit, Mr. Toad and his new, large family group are drawing crowds in front of the exhibit as they wrestle and bounce about. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time when you stop by for a visit; you won’t want to leave the fun!
Nerissa Foland is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.
June 19th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Nerissa, how great to know that little Kinah is doing so well and is being accepted by the other group. It sounds like it going to be a “barrel ” of fun watching them. sorry for the pun,I couldn’t resist. Kinah wouldn’t have done so well if it weren’t for the loving care that she got from all of you.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Nerissa, how exciting it must have been to watch all the fun and exploration. It is so great that Kinah and Bunzi have now got even more monkey friends to play with. How does Bunzi react to all the other monkeys being around her little friend “Kinah?” Has she become less protective as Kinah has grown?
How did Dixie do with all these new animals around her?
June 19th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Nerissa, your report was so much fun to read. It’s a nice contrast to hear about a group of animals who are very social and in fact, rely upon each other for contentment and good quality of life. Ituri Forest is a beautiful area to visit and while I don’t need any encouragement to stop by, I am inspired to make time for extra photo opportunities! The update on Kinah is wonderful news, too. Thanks so much!
June 20th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I love the picture of the Swamp Monkey “making friends” with the otter. Monkeys and otters are notoriously social animals that love to “play.” Hopefully they will peacefully co-exist in Ituri Forest, and bring each species additional enrichment and rewards from their interactions.
Kinah is sure one really lucky baby monkey! Imagine all the care she has received, and now the incredible adventures that await she and Bunzi in their whole new “world.” So much to see and do, explore, make friends, learn to co-exist with completely different species, and to get to do it for most of their life.
Wow, what an incredible story! Only at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park would you find such variety and “spice of life.”
Can you imagine the “fun” the otters are now having with their young new neighbors. None of them will have many dull moments for a while.