A Bright-eyed, Spunky Baby Monkey

Hi everyone! My name is Natalie and I am a Small Primate Keeper here at Zoo Atlanta. I recently joined the team here after moving from New York, where I worked at the Long Island Aquarium.

If you have visited us at the Zoo recently, you might have been lucky enough to spot the new and adorable addition to our area, our baby Schmidt’s guenon, who was born in the late afternoon of August 6. While we do not know the gender of the infant quite yet, we have learned so much already about this bright-eyed, spunky monkey!

This baby is the very first offspring from Schmidt’s guenon parents Bam and Nafis, who were paired up as part of a Species Survival PlanⓇ (SSP). SSPs will coordinate between facilities to pair up genetically diverse animals and make a breeding recommendation, which then helps to promote the conservation of that species. While this recommendation has made Nafis a first-time dad, Bam has already had two kids here at Zoo Atlanta! You can see her daughter Flynn and son Jack in the habitat as well.

As time flies with this third offspring, I wanted to go over all of the little milestones going on in Baby Schmidt’s life. Schmidt’s guenon development is very quick compared to their neighbors in their habitat, our Angolan colobus. While Angolan colobus might take up to a month to begin locomoting on their own, Schmidt’s guenons make jumps and strides within their first week of life!

Check out the milestones Baby Schmidt’s has already achieved:

August 6 – Bam keeps the baby tight to her chest, and we see very little of the newborn.

August 7 – Baby already has eyes wide open and is reaching for things in the habitat.

August 11 – Baby is mobile off of mother Bam and is exploring independently in short spurts.

August 14 – Baby is starting to jump around and is also seen bonding with big sister Flynn.

August 21 – Baby has a busy day of playtime with big siblings Jack and Flynn.

August 23 – Arboreal instincts kick in, and baby is climbing branches and cables in the habitat.

We here on the Primate Team are very excited to continue watching this little one grow, and hope that guests and Members of Zoo Atlanta will stop by to see our baby Schmidt’s guenon before baby is grown up! (Photo: Natalie C)

Natalie C.
Keeper I, Primates