When vervet monkey Louise gave birth to Mosi Musa in June 2017, he was her first baby—and she was little overwhelmed. She wasn't caring for him, so the animal care team stepped in to feed him.

But Thelma, another adult female in the social group, appeared to be fascinated by the infant, and that gave the team an idea: maybe Thelma would help them co-raise Mosi Musa.

Thelma (seen here with the thriving Mosi Musa) couldn’t feed the infant, because she wasn’t lactating, so the animal care team bottle-fed and burped him. Then, they handed him over to his adoptive mom, who provided the kind of cuddles, hugs, protection, and socialization that only a mother monkey can give.

When a François’ langur monkey named Chi was born on February 28, 2017, animal care staff realized that his mom, 4-year-old Mei Li, had rejected him and failed to nurse him. Though this species practices alloparenting, where all members of the group participate in rearing their young, the other langur group members had also decided to not take care of the baby. That did not deter animal care staff, and they worked to reintroduce Chi to his family. They gave Chi supplemental feedings, and every day they did introductions to see if Mei Li would accept her baby. After about 10 days, she did—and the animal care team and Mei Li were able to raise active little Chi together.

Mosi Musa getting some TLC in the animal care nursery.

Chi had a whole team on his side to make sure he thrived.

2017

Integration 2017 - 2026

Sometimes, young animals need a little—or a lot of—help getting started in life. In an effort to keep them with their groups, even when they face health challenges, San Diego Zoo Global’s animal care teams have developed innovative ways to co-raise babies. It really does take a village!

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