If you’re anything like me, you might have spent the last few weeks having an emotional crisis about Punch the monkey, the baby macaque who clung to a stuffed toy after being rejected by his mother at Japan’s Ichikawa City Zoo. (I can sleep again now that Punch has found a surrogate mom in the troop.)
While Punch is undoubtedly the reigning king of cute baby monkeys that the internet loves, there’s a new primate at the Oakland Zoo who is equally worthy of our adoring gazes. A male red-tailed monkey was born at the zoo earlier this month to (thankfully) loving parents, mom Nonami and dad Marley.
Here’s Nonami (and her awesome furry mutton chops) taking care of her son.
@oaklandzoo Exciting news: Say hello to our first-ever red-tailed monkey baby! Nonami and Marley, our resident red-tailed guenons, are proud parents of a healthy baby boy. Nonami and her baby have joined the rest of the troop in their habitat, bonding with the troop, including his sisters, Ikea and Skittles, Nonami’s first babies, who were born at their previous Zoo. Mom and baby frequently spend time in the habitat, where visitors can see them every day, but Mom sometimes prefers to retreat to a cozy, warm indoor space with her baby. Keepers are thrilled about the Zoo’s first guenon baby and are currently selecting a name for our new male red-tailed monkey. Once a decision is made, we will announce it on social media. 📸: Keeper Alyssa #monkeys #animals #zoos #baby ♬ original sound – Oakland Zoo
The baby boy has two big sisters that Nonami gave birth to at her previous home, Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. His sisters are called Ikea and Skittles for some reason, so let’s just all hope the new baby gets to be named after something that doesn’t sound like corporate sponsorship. (Ikea is apparently already assisting on grooming duties — which is a very weird sentence.) Once zookeepers have landed on a name, they’ll announce it on social media.
The new baby is the result of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums working with Oakland Zoo on its Guenon red-tailed monkey Species Survival Plan.
