The little guy won’t win any beauty contests, unless beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
But the baby aye-aye, an endangered primate species found only in the wild on Madagascar, has made history at the Denver Zoo.
When he arrived on April 18, he was only the second aye-aye conceived and born at a North American zoo.
According to the National Geographic Society, which has studied and written about the rare animals of Madagascar, the aye-ayes may not look like primates, but they are related to chimpanzees, apes and humans.
According to the Denver Zoo, the little guy weighed a little more than 2 ounces at birth, which was a low birth weight. But with the Denver Zoo primate staff providing supplemental care and intense management for him and his mother, his weight grew to nearly 6 ounces this week.
The infant was born to mother Salem and father Ozony, both of who came to the Denver Zoo last year.
The breeding pair, both 7 years old, arrived from the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina through the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.
The plan is designed to ensure healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals.
Salem and Ozony have proven to be an excellent match, according to a zoo news release.
The new aye-aye, who has yet to be named, is currently in a nest in the zoo’s Emerald Forest building inside the Primate Panorama exhibit.
Aye-ayes are the world’s largest nocturnal primate, weighing up to 6 pounds. The species is so unique, it has its own family classification called Daubentoniidae.
“Aye-ayes look like no other animals living today. Their monkey-like body, squirrel-like tail, large eyes and elongated middle fingers make them easily distinguishable from any other primate,” according to the zoo release.
They use their long, curved middle digits, which can be up to three times longer than the others, to pull insects out of holes in trees.
The World Conservation Union classifies them as endangered because of their loss of habitat due to the vast amount of logging in Madagascar and because of poaching.
Some Madagascar residents believe they are an evil omen, and seeing one is often believed to be an indicator that a villager will die. The only way to prevent the death is by killing the aye-aye, says the superstition. However, Madagascar has enacted laws banning their killing.
The San Francisco Zoo is the only other North American zoo to have aye-ayes.
Including the aye-ayes at the Duke Lemur Center, there are only 25 in North America.
According to the National Geographic Society, aye-ayes spend their lives in rain forests and avoid coming down to earth. Because they are nocturnal, the society says, they spend their days curled up in a ball-like nest of leaves and branches. The nests appear as closed spheres with single entry holes, situated in the forks of large trees.
The animals live about 20 years in captivity.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
