It turns out that the Houston Zoo is getting national attention for something besides elephant herpes — they are the home to a newly delivered rare baby lemur.
Lemurs aren’t exactly the most glamorous species — they’re right up there with sloths in the public mind — but rare is rare. And it’s from an endangered species.
The Coquerel’s sifaka was born January 6 and is as yet unnamed. (Why not Bo Diddley’s Little John the Conqueroo? Close enough, we say.)
Only five zoos in the country have these lemurs.
“Mother and baby are doing just fine,” said Houston Zoo Primate
Supervisor Lynn Killam. “Zenobia is being a great mom. The baby is
nursing and gaining weight and getting stronger by the day.”
The animals live in the wild only in Madagascar, which means the producers of those Ben Stiller movies will soon be looking for tie-ins.
— Richard Connelly
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2009.