The zoo has published a video of a young representative of the species called Propithecus coquereli.
Chester Zoo in England has welcomed a baby lemur from an extremely endangered species. The baby Propithecus coquereli was born in the zoo on September 21.
The cub is now appearing in public for the first time, as the zoo released the first video of it in the intervening days. In the video, the cub spends time closely attached to its mother.
Zoo workers let the chick grow for a few weeks before checking whether the new arrival is female or male. According to the zoo, over the next few weeks, the cub will gain confidence and begin to explore its environment independently.
There are already only five individuals of the same species in European zoos.
Females rule
Lemurs are primate mammals that live in the wild only on the island of Madagascar, on the east coast of the African continent. Propithecus coquereli lemurs live in the wild in a small area in the northern part of Madagascar. It is estimated that there are around 47,000 of them in the world.
Propithecus coquereli is a diurnal animal that moves in groups of a few individuals and spends a large part of its time on the branches of trees, eating leaves, shoots, flowers and fruits of plants.
Matriarchy prevails in Propithecus coquereli communities, i.e. females are in a leading position over males. For example, they always eat before the males and choose their own partners for reproduction.
Forest burning and hunting threaten
A new individual born in the zoo is also valuable because the species is extremely endangered.
of the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN according to which it is threatened by habitat loss and hunting. The forests it inhabits are burned for beech cultivation and for new pastures, and the wood is cut for charcoal production.
According to the IUCN, the people of Madagascar have traditionally considered hunting lemurs taboo, but immigration has dispelled traditional beliefs.