Hogle Zoo is proud to announce the birth of a black howler monkey at the Primate Building on August 28, 2009. The father is a 6-year-old male named “Inti” and the mother is a 17-year-old female named “Jackie”. Hogle Zoo recently acquired Inti from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado. The howler monkey population in North America is managed cooperatively by all the AZA accredited zoos under the Howler Monkey Population Management Plan (PMP). These parents are genetically valuable to this population, making this a very significant birth.

 

This species exhibits sexual dimorphism, wherein the males are black and the females are blond. The infants are born the same color as the mom and are carried on her belly for several months.  Male babies stay the blond color of their mother until the age of 2.5 when they turn black.

 

As the infant develops, it will start to climb all over the mother. Although, a little hard to see at this time, the baby and its parents are housed in an exhibit built on the east end of the Primate Building. This is the first howler birth at Hogle Zoo in over 12 years.

 

Learn more about black howler monkeys.