Chemnitz Zoo: Offspring among the djeladas
On Monday, 7 August, the djeladas at Chemnitz Zoo had their first offspring and the group has grown by one cub. Infant primates are babies that often spend the first few days of their lives almost exclusively on their mother's body. The sex of the new arrival is therefore not yet known.
It was only in May of this year that an 18-strong group of djeladas, also known as blood-breasted baboons, came from Rheine Nature Zoo to the new facility at Chemnitz Zoo. They live in a social structure typical of djeladas. A group consists of an adult male and several related females and their offspring. Pure bachelor groups are also possible.
Deladas do not have a fixed mating season. The females signal their willingness to mate by, among other things, their eponymous breast patch turning a bright red colour. After a gestation period of a good six months, a single young is usually born, which is initially darker in colour than the older children and adults. It is suckled for one and a half to two years. Because the nipples of the females are very close together, the young can suck on both breasts at the same time. This peculiarity is only found among primates in the djeladas.
After the former snow goat enclosure stood empty following the death of the last animal in November 2020, the "Tierparkfreunde Chemnitz e. V." association took on the project to convert it into a djelada enclosure. In total, there are only six zoological institutions in Germany that exhibit this species. Chemnitz Zoo is the first and only facility in Saxony.
www.tierpark-chemnitz.de
Opening hours in summer
Zoo: 9 am to 7 pm, last admission 6 pm
Wildgatters: 8 am to 6 pm, last admission 5 pm