Europe’s first ever ‘dancing lemur’ baby born at Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo has become the first in Europe to breed a rare ‘dancing lemur’.

The baby Coquerel’s sifaka was born with a fluffy white coat and weighed just 119 grams after a 130 day pregnancy to parents, Beatrice and Elliott. 

The pair, both 10-year-old lemurs, arrived at the conservation from the US just 18 months ago to begin a new breeding programme, designed to protect the critically endangered primates from extinction.

The ‘precious’ young ‘dancing lemur’ — a nickname given for the way they swing and move on their hind legs — will cling to its mother’s belly for a number of weeks before it will then ride on her back like a backpack until it is around six months old, experts say.

Zookeepers will determine the sex of the tiny primate once it starts to branch away and explore on its own. Currently, only seven of the rare primates are cared for in three zoos in Europe, and the family-of-three based at Chester are the only Coquerel’s sifaka to live in the UK. 

Conservationists at the zoo say the birth is a ‘landmark moment’ for the species that is on the brink of extinction in the wild.

Mark Brayshaw, Curator of Mammals at the zoo, said: “It’s really exciting to be the first team of conservationists in Europe to successfully breed this unusual and extremely rare primate. While it’s still early days, both mum and baby are doing great.”

He continued: “Beatrice is feeding her new arrival regularly and is keeping it nestled in her fur as she leaps from tree to tree. In a few weeks’ time, the baby will graduate to riding on her back, before branching out and learning to climb trees independently at around six months old. It won’t be long until this bright-eyed baby will be bouncing 20ft between tree to tree just like its parents.”

The adorable creatures are native species to North West Madagascar and typically hide and swing in treetops. However, they have seen an 80% decline in their population over the past three decades due to manmade deforestation.

As a result, the world’s authority on the state of nature, The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), upgraded the species to its highest conservation priority in 2018 and listed the primates as critically endangered in the wild.

Mike Jordan, Director of Animals and Plants at Chester Zoo, added: “The birth of a Coquerel’s sifaka in Europe is a real landmark moment for conservation and, importantly, has kickstarted the endangered species breeding programme in European zoos for the species – which could be the lifeboat that prevents them from becoming wiped out completely.

“Mass deforestation has swept across the island of Madagascar and it has lost up to 90% of its forests, taking with it thousands of species. But we refuse to let the devastation continue and our conservationists have helped our partners Madagasikara Voakajy – an NGO based in the heart of the island – to develop an official protected area spanning 27,000 hectares of forest, which is home to some of Madagascar’s most precious species.

“While the situation is now quite desperate, it’s the knowledge, skills and expertise gathered by experts at conservation zoos like ours that will play a vital role in preventing the extinction of highly threatened species, just like the Coquerel’s sifaka.”

Find out more on the Chester Zoo website.