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Posted: 20th May 2013

Newborn for red-bellied lemur family
Zoo successfully breeds vulnerable species

A red-bellied lemur at Edinburgh Zoo gave birth to her first pup on May 4. Both mother and baby are said to be doing well.

Four-year-old Gizmo was hand-reared after being rejected by her own mother back in 2009. Despite this, the zoo says she is proving to be a "natural" with her baby.

Staff reported that the birth went well and that the newborn is now beginning to make an appearance to visitors.

"The birth occurred Saturday afternoon and [Gizmo] was back to eating and moving about normally almost immediately" said Donald Gow, the zoo's senior keeper for primates and hoofstock.

"Despite being a small, fluffy bundle, visitors have been able to catch glimpses of the newborn, which I am sure must be a nice surprise for them."

It is thought that, once Gizmo was strong enough to be reintroduced to the family, she learned about motherhood from watching her brothers being reared.

The family were brought to Edinburgh from Linton Zoo in November 2009 and Gizmo's mate, Bart, arrived from Jardin Zoologique Tropical, France, last year.

Red-bellied lemurs are listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, therefore parents Gizmo and Bart are a crucial part of the species' breeding programme.

"We had no problems introducing Bart to Gizmo when he arrived," explained Mr Gow.

"She immediately accepted him, displaying lots of grooming behaviour and also became very territorial and protective, which was just what we wanted to see."

The pup's gender will remain unknown until he or she is a few months old.



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