White-faced lemur born in anniversary year AquaZoo Leeuwarden

A white-faced lemur was born at AquaZoo Leeuwarden this week. The mother and the young animal are doing well.

The cub came into the world on Sunday. According to head of animal care William Kreijkes, it is going very well, but remains exciting: "So much can still happen. But the cub is growing well and the couple has successfully raised offspring before, so we see it very positive."

No surprise
The arrival of the young white-faced lemur was not a total surprise to the animal keepers at AquaZoo. Kreijkes: "We saw that the mother gained a little weight and that observation was confirmed, a few days before the young animal's arrival, by the scales: there was a weight gain of 300 grams, which is consistent with pregnancy. Normally the mother weighs about 1.8 kilograms." The gestation period of a white-faced lemur is about five months.

The sex of this youngster is not yet known. Newborn lemurs all have the mother's facial markings and colors, so they do not stand out to predators for the first few months. After two to three months, the face drawings change. When it is a female, the young retains the mother's colors. The face turns white if it is a male. Once this becomes clearly visible, the young animal will become increasingly independent and by six months the animal moves completely independently.

High up in the tree
The white-faced lemur is found in the tropical rainforests, swamps and forests of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. They live high in the trees. These treetops provide the lemurs with protection from predators, among other things.

White-faced lemurs are very agile and strong. They can jump from tree to tree thanks to their powerful hind legs and sturdy, long tail. They are therefore sometimes called flying monkeys.

Ambassadors
On the IUCN Red List, the population of this species is 'not threatened' for now. However, the habitat is under pressure: the forests are being cut down and as a result the animals are dying. They are also increasingly being hit by cars because the habitat is getting smaller. In zoos, through the European Management Program, a healthy reserve population is being created for this species.

In addition, the lemurs in the park are ambassadors for their peers in the wild. Kreijkes: "We hope that visitors will be impressed by the beauty of the animals. To then tell them how vulnerable the habitat is. We also explain what we do, with the visitors' help, to protect it."

Cubs and dinosaurs
This cub is not the only young animal at the jubilee Frisian zoo: four tiger cubs were born earlier this year. In addition, more than twenty lifelike dinosaurs will also be on display in the 20-year-old park this fall.

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