Taronga Western Plains Zoo is delighted to announce the arrival of another Spider Monkey baby, born on 5 October 2020.

The female baby is yet to be named and was born to mother, Margarita and father, Pedro and is the second offspring for the pair.

“Margarita is an experienced mother and is taking to the role like an old hand. She is doing a good job caring for her newborn,” said Primate Keeper Rachel Schildkraut.

“The other juveniles in the group have shown a little bit of interest in the new arrival, coming over to have a closer look,” said Rachel.

This is the second Spider Monkey baby born to the group in the past two months, with the first arriving in late August 2020.

“The first baby is developing well and whilst he is still attached to mum, he is starting to occasionally reach out for things nearby and spends a lot of time looking around.”

Spider Monkey babies cling to their mothers with an amazing grip and suckle as needed for the first few months of their lives. After approximately three to four months the babies become more active and move to riding on their mother’s back and start exploring a little more.

“Our first baby can occasionally be observed dorsal riding, or riding on his mother’s back, but he is still a little uncoordinated.”

“The best vantage spot to view the Spider Monkey babies is from the deck at the Zoo Café,” said Rachel.

The Black-handed Spider Monkey conservation breeding program at Taronga Western Plains Zoo has now welcomed four females and three males since the arrival of Pedro the breeding male from France in 2014.

Black-handed Spider Monkeys are found in Mexico and throughout Central America and are classified as Endangered with habitat loss the primary cause of their decline.