Jumps 'like a pogo stick': Critically endangered lemur species born at Jacksonville Zoo
The birth of a Coquerel's sifaka, a critically endangered type of lemur native to Madagascar, at the Jacksonville Zoo is "crucial" to the species. A critically endangered type of lemur species, Coquerel's sifaka, was born at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in January. The species is native to Madagascar and is known for jumping vertically like a pogo stick. The infant is the third of its species born at Jacksonville in as many years and is one of five currently there. The Coqerel sifakas are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan, with 50 of them at U.S. zoos. The baby has been bonding with its mother behind the scenes but is expected to be on public view in the African Forest exhibit in a few months. This is the latest endangered species success story at the zoo, which houses about 38% of its animal species designated as critically endangered, endangered, threatened or vulnerable in the wild.
Published : 2 months ago by Beth Reese Cravey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union in Science
A Coquerel's sifaka infant born in January clings to her mother at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. A species of lemur, Coquerel's sifakas are native to Madagascar and critically endangered.
A Coquerel's sifaka, a critically endangered type of lemur known for jumping vertically like a pogo stick, was born recently at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
The female infant is the third of its species born at the zoo in as many years and is one of five currently there, according to zoo spokeswoman Emily Long. Native to Madagascar's dry northwestern forests, Coquerel's sifaka are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan, with 50 of them at U.S. zoos.
"Every single offspring is crucial to the species' longevity," Long said. "The success the zoo has with this species has been truly remarkable and something we are incredibly proud of."
The as-yet unnamed infant was born to Aemilia and Gulliver, who are already parents of two. The baby has been bonding with its mother behind the scenes since the January birth but is expected to be on public view in the African Forest exhibit in a few months, Long said.
The Coquerel's sifaka are named after French entomologist Charles Coquerel, who was involved in "collecting expeditions" to Madagascar and neighboring islands in the 1800s, according to the International Environment Library Consortium. Threatened by hunting and habitat destruction, their numbers have declined to about 200,000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
The latest addition at the Jacksonville Zoo weighed less than a pound at birth and has grown to about 1½ pounds since. She is "still very attached to mom so it’s sometimes difficult to get an updated weight," Long said.
"These long, powerful legs can easily propel them distances of over 20 feet from tree to tree. On the ground, the animals cross treeless areas just as gracefully, by bipedal sideways hopping," according to the Duke center.
The Malagasy name "sifaka" stems from this lemur's distinctive "shif-auk" call as it moves from tree to tree, according to the Duke center.
Coquerel's sifaka is one of the largest of lemur, with healthy adults weighing as much as 9 pounds. They are "distinguished from other lemurs by their vertical clinging and leaping mode of locomotion: These animals maintain a distinctly vertical posture and leap through the trees using just the strength of their back legs," according to the Duke University Lemur Center.
The Coquerel sifaka birth is the latest endangered species success story at the Jacksonville Zoo, which is home to about 1,500 exotic and rare animals and 1,000 plant species.
About 38% of the zoo's animal species are designated as critically endangered, endangered, threatened or vulnerable in the wild by the International Union for Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Seventy-six species are in the zoo's Species Survival Plan program.
Other success stories were the November birth of triplets: critically endangered Malayan cubs that recently went on exhibit. In September the second of two critically endangered Eastern Bongo calves arrived and April marked the debut of Banks, the first jaguar cub born at the Jacksonville Zoo in a decade. Jaguars are listed as near threatened.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Critically endangered Coquerel's sifaka born at Jacksonville Zoo