Ireland

‘The baby seems to be doing great’: Endangered agile gibbon born at Fota Wildlife Park

Public invited to help name the newborn

Fota Wildlife Park has announced the birth of an endangered baby agile gibbon to mum Chloe and dad Conor. Photograph: Darragh Kane
Fota Wildlife Park has announced the birth of an endangered baby agile gibbon to mum Chloe and dad Conor. Photograph: Darragh Kane
Olivia Kelleher
Wed Mar 27 2024 - 15:32

An endangered agile gibbon has been born at Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork to parents Conor and Chloe.

Teresa Power, lead ranger at Fota, said the newborn was thriving but that it was too soon to determine the gender of the park’s latest addition.

“The baby seems to be doing great,” she said. “The team have observed him or her feeding from mum who is a very experienced and dedicated mother. This youngster also shares their island habitat with big brother Beamish, born in 2021.”

Agile gibbons have been resident at Fota since the 1990s, living on an island in the park’s Asian Sanctuary. The apes are held in only a few collections throughout the world, with several juveniles having been born to Conor and Chloe over the years.

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Staff at Fota Wildlife Park have not yet been able to determine the gender of the young gibbon. Photograph: Darragh Kane
Staff at Fota Wildlife Park have not yet been able to determine the gender of the young gibbon. Photograph: Darragh Kane

Ms Power said the number of agile gibbons in the wild “continues to decrease” with their native environments having “shrunk by half” over the past five decades. She said the species faces additional threats from hunters “who exploit them for the illicit exotic pet market”.

“For Fota Wildlife Park, these births capture the public’s interest and it helps us raise awareness about the plight of the many species that reside here and the endangered breeding programmes we participate in.”

Fota is running a competition on its website asking the public to help name the young gibbon.

[ Echidna: first recorded sighting in over 60 years proves mammal is not extinct ]

[ Endangered baby monkey takes first swings into action at Fota Island ]