[Animals] A female gibbon that lived alone in her cage had a baby, how did it happen?

[Akrapovic]

A female gibbon mysteriously became pregnant

 

 

Zookeepers in Japan believe they have solved the mystery of how a female gibbon became pregnant despite living alone in her cage.

Momo, a 12-year-old white-handed gibbon, surprised her keepers at the Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagasaki in February 2021 when she gave birth despite not having a male for companionship.

Momo and her cub at the Kujukushima Zoo. (N/A/Kujukushima Zoo)

Now, two years later, after a DNA test of her calf, the zoo has discovered who her father is, and even has a theory about how the gibbons mated.

The test showed that the father was Itō, a lithe 34-year-old gibbon, who was in an enclosure adjacent to Momo when she became pregnant.

The zoo told CNN on Friday that it believed Momo and Itō had managed to mate through a small hole in a steel plate between their enclosures. The hole measured about 9 millimeters (0.8 inches) in diameter.

An otter and an ape, the strangest couple in this zoo 2:02

The as-yet-unnamed calf now weighs around 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) and is "growing healthily" under Momo's loving care, the zoo said.

“It is a precious life born in the world, we will continue to take good care of it and hope it lives a long and healthy life,” said Hideki Hisano, deputy director of the zoo.

Gibbons are among the smallest apes, but they have loud voices and have developed elaborate language, plus they can swing from branch to branch at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.

There are dozens of gibbon species that are native to parts of Asia, from northeastern India to China and from there to the Borneo archipelago.

The gibbon po[CENSORED]tion in the wild has been declining and they have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as their habitat is threatened by human activities such as deforestation, mining and construction. of roads.

 

link: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2023/02/10/zoologico-gibon-hembra-cria-trax/