Zoo Welcomes First Baby Red Ruffed Lemur in 13 Years

SAN DIEGO, CA: It's a boy!

It has been more than a decade since a red ruffed lemur was born at the San Diego Zoo. But that changed on May 18 when one of the park's red ruffed lemurs, Morticia, gave birth to her first offspring.

Though more than 100 of the red-and-black creatures have been bred at the San Diego Zoo since 1965, it marked the first birth in 13 years. 

Excitement over the newborn is permeating the air, according to Kristen Watkins, a primate keeper for the San Diego Zoo.

"Red ruffed lemurs are considered to be one of the world's most endangered primates, so every birth is significant," Watkins said.

Morticia is a first-time mom, but has proven to be a great mother to the unnamed baby lemur that currently weighs in at 6.6 ounces and is gaining weight by about 10 grams a day, Watkins shared in a ZooNooz blog post.

"For the first week after the birth, it was important for keepers to get daily weights on the infant, to make sure he was gaining weight," Watkins said. "A rising weight indicates that the baby is successfully nursing and that mom is taking good care of him. Morticia is willing to let keepers borrow her infant in exchange for some of her favorite fruits, but she is eager to get him back."

The rare species is native to one region in the world: the Masoala Peninsula in Madagascar.

Luckily for San Diegans, they can also be heard throughout the Zoo, as their distinct calls are among the loudest in the lemur family. At this point, though, they are not seen much by park visitors because they don't have a designated exhibit space.

The Zoo's red ruffed lemurs are living behind the scenes until their new exhibits in Africa Rocks are completed in summer 2017. 

(Photos courtesy of the San Diego Zoo)