Targeted breeding “more and more important”: Tiergarten Nuremberg is happy about two offspring

Created: 05/18/2022Updated: 05/18/2022 05:52

By: Katarina Amtmann

Offspring of the white-faced sakis in the Nuremberg zoo.

© Tom Burger / Nuremberg Zoo

Many species are threatened with extinction.

The zoo in Nuremberg is therefore breeding in a targeted manner - and has now reported a double success.

Nuremberg - Another offspring in Nuremberg Zoo, this time in two primate species: the white-faced saki and the crowned lemur.

The city announced this on May 12th.

Offspring in Nuremberg Zoo: white-faced sakis and crowned lemurs

Both young animals are already in their groups and can be seen by the visitors.

The zoo participates in the European breeding program EEP with both primate species.

This serves to build up healthy and stable populations within European zoos and thus contributes to the preservation of endangered species.

A cub was born in the crowned lemur at the end of April.

It is already the third lemur cub to be born in Nuremberg.

The group has grown to five animals.

"It still mostly clings tightly to its mother and lets her carry it around," the press release says.

Youngsters in Nuremberg Zoo: "In the meantime, young Saki dares to go on his first trips alone"

The offspring at the Sakis in the Manatihaus were born at the end of March.

"Here, too, the young animal spent the first few weeks after birth on its mother's back, who liked to withdraw into the foliage and was only visible to patient observers.

In the meantime, however, young Saki is already daring to make the first trips on his own."

The Saki group currently consists of four animals.

Part of the European breeding program EEP

The breeding of Nuremberg white-faced sakis and crowned lemurs is coordinated in the European breeding program EEP (EAZA ex situ program).

In these programs, zoos breed animal species in a coordinated manner to maintain stable populations outside of their natural habitat.

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Nuremberg zoo is happy about offspring - Targeted breeding "increasingly important"

“Habitat destruction, man-made climate change, illegal wildlife trade and poaching are the driving causes of the extinction of more and more animal species.

Coordinated and targeted breeding in human care is therefore becoming increasingly important for the preservation of many animal species," Diana Koch, curator at Nuremberg Zoo, is quoted as saying.

Crowned lemur offspring in Nuremberg zoo

Crowned lemurs belong to the lemur family and are found exclusively on the northern tip of Madagascar, the city explains in the press release.

“On the island in East Africa, the crowned lemurs live in dry and semi-arid deciduous forests, excellently adapted to their environment.

Their distribution area is just over 20,000 square kilometers and is therefore smaller than Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia together.”

Crowned lemurs owe their name to the black "fur crown" on the top of the male's head, which stands in stark contrast to the orange-colored fur bordering his face.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), crowned lemurs are classified as "Endangered".

There were also offspring among the crowned lemurs.

© Nadine Lang / Nuremberg Zoo

Tiergarten Nuremberg: Baby luck with an endangered breed of sheep

Offspring of the white-faced sakis in the Nuremberg zoo

White-faced sakis belong to the New World monkey family and are found in rain and mountain forests in northeastern South America.

They prefer to stay in the middle and lower tree regions and communicate with each other with chirping calls and whistles.

The males can be recognized by the white face mask.

The females have a dark colored face with two narrow light stripes.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) still classifies the species as "not endangered", although the stocks are also declining here, mainly due to the loss of habitat.

The Tierpark Nürnberg was recently happy about newly born hoofed animals - in addition to the endangered barbary sheep and redhead sheep, pygmy goats and Cameroon goats also had babies.