It’s time for births at Spay Zoo, near Le Mans. Since the beginning of the year, around fifty babies have been born there, of several species. These babies are sometimes eagerly awaited.
There is good news, however, in Sarthe. A baby white-handed gibbon was born on July 24 at Spay Zoo. It is “the first offspring of the pair formed by Fidji and Pépito,” Maxime Thué, the zoo’s manager, told AFP on Sunday, August 17. This is a first for his team in ten years.
“Above all, this birth is essential for the preservation of endangered species. The white-handed gibbon is listed as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species due to deforestation and poaching in Indonesia and Malaysia,” the veterinarian continues. The zoo team was worried about how Fiji, the female with her first calf, would care for her baby. “Ultimately, we realized that she was a very good mother, a little clumsy at times with her baby, but she takes really good care of him,” he smiles, also emphasizing the role of the father, Pepito, “very gentle with him.” The baby’s sex will not be known until a few months from now, when it begins to detach from its mother.
Meanwhile, the little gibbon isn’t the only baby to be observed at the park. Since the beginning of the year, other births have been noted at this zoo, including those of African marabou storks, lemurs, and capybaras. This is a reward for the teams who are doing everything they can to recreate “what happens in nature” and provide an environment “conducive to reproduction.”
