WATCH: Saskatoon zoo welcomes baby ring-tailed lemur

Lucy, a ring-trailed lemur at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo, will celebrate her first Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Jeff Mitchell, the zoo’s operations manager, said Lucy gave birth on Monday morning and has been keeping the baby close in the days since.

“The baby doesn’t have a name yet, and we don’t know the sex yet either,” he said. “We let baby and mom really bond for the first week.”

While zoo staff haven’t been hands-on with the pup yet, Mitchell said it is being monitored closely.

“Our vets have been here and given the baby a very close visual examination,” he said, adding that the baby seems to be healthy.

The baby lemur will cling to its mom’s belly for the next week or two before beginning to ride on her back. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

The zoo staff and veterinarians have consulted with specialists across the globe to ensure they are caring for the baby appropriately. Ring-tailed lemurs are endemic to Madagascar.

So far, the pup appears to be right on track.

“There are some very critical milestones in the first couple of days we like to see. Nursing is the biggest one, and holding on (to mom) very tight,” Mitchell said. “We saw nursing within about 45 minutes of birth, which is really excited and made us really happy to see.”

Over the next few weeks, the baby will go from clinging to Lucy’s belly to riding on her back, and it will be eating solid food within about a month.

This is the first baby ring-tailed lemur to be born at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo following mom Lucy and dad Ringo’s arrival at the zoo last year.

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Mitchell said lemurs are considered the most endangered mammal group in the world, meaning this birth is cause for extra celebration.

“We are ecstatic. One of the things that we’ve really worked hard on is breeding animals that are really important to conservation,” he said.

A first for the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo – a new baby ring-trailed lemur!

Full @CKOMNews story here: https://t.co/UdTy4Xf9Zl

Check out this video I put together of Lucy, Ringo, and baby here ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/w0zoy6f4hH

— Alex Brown (@AlexBrownYXE) May 10, 2024

“Being able to actually pair up the lemurs and get a baby is one of the things we really work hard to do. It’s just so exciting for the zoo, and hopefully exciting for the community as well.”

If you’re heading to the zoo this weekend, you’ll find the pup clinging to its mom’s belly in the Forestry Farm’s Small Mammal House.

(Alex Brown/650 CKOM)