In addition to today being Tatu’s first day on exhibit, the Greenville Zoo is celebrating the arrival of yet another new member of the zoo family - an Angolan Colobus monkey. Animal care staff discovered the baby early this morning and alerted the veterinary team. According to the medical staff, the newborn, whose gender is not yet known, is nursing and all appears well. The baby is the offspring of Valentino (male) and Nuru (female), whose pairing was a Species Survival Plan recommendation last summer. The baby is Valentino’s fourth offspring and Nuru’s first. Nuru and the baby will be on exhibit immediately to enjoy the warming temperatures.
Valentino was born at Jungle Island in Miami on February 13, 2002. He arrived at the Greenville Zoo in 2004, along with Milo, another male. In February 2008, Milo was transferred to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Greenville Zoo received a female named Lami from the San Diego Zoo. After producing three offspring (two males and one female) over the next three years, Valentino and Lami were recommended not to breed again. In 2015, their two male offspring were transferred to the San Diego Zoo and Lami and the female offspring were transferred to Zoo Atlanta.
Nuru was born at the San Diego Zoo on December 3, 2006. She was transferred to the Greenville Zoo last year and was introduced to Valentino on June 23, 2015.
Valentino’s and Nuru’s baby was born completely white; however, its coat will darken over the next three months. The Angola Colobus monkeys range in dense rainforests, both in the lowlands and coastal mountains in Africa. They live in most of the Congo Basin, to the south and northeast of the Congo River, as far as Ruwenzori, Burundi and southwestern Uganda. The species can also be found in East Africa, especially in the montane and coastal forests of Kenya and Tanzania and in isolated mountain areas. Although the species is named after Angola, it is quite rare in that country.
“With the weather expected to improve this week, we hope the community will make plans to visit us to see both of our new additions,” said Greenville Zoo administrator Jeff Bullock. “Tatu’s birth was already cause for excitement, and today’s birth marks another success for the Greenville Zoo and its commitment to conservation efforts for animals around the world.”
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Contact:
Jeff Bullock
Greenville Zoo Administrator
864-467-4515