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Stork Arrives At Lowry Park Zoo

Tribune photo by CLIFF MCBRIDE

A baby red-tailed guenon monkey, Stewie, hangs with its mother, Njano.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 2, 2008

TAMPA - Love is in the air at Lowry Park Zoo. The stork has swooped in recently, visiting three sets of parents, all different species. Two pairs of primates became parents and, of course, the warthogs down the way had twins.

The cutest, perhaps, was Peanut, the teeny, tiny titi monkey, who clings to his father's back constantly. The father, Cleve, generally totes the baby around and hands it over to the mother, Leap, only to nurse, said Angela Belcher, assistant curator for primates at the Tampa zoo.

Peanut is almost concealed on Cleve's back and can only be seen fleetingly as two tiny eyes set in a golf ball-size head peering out from the fur.

"We've had them since February," Belcher said, referring to the proud parents. "They were introduced here."

Zoo keepers knew the two were getting along but weren't sure they had mated.

"The baby was a surprise, and it wasn't a surprise," Belcher said.

Peanut was born in April.

Titi monkeys are found throughout South America. They weigh about 2 pounds fully grown and are arboreal. They live in small family groups that include parents and offspring, but after a couple of years, Peanut will be separated from his parents and probably taken to another zoo for breeding purposes, Belcher said.

A few doors down, Stewie held a vice grip on his mom, Njano. Stewie is a red-tailed guenon, and he was born on June 13.

The family unit was unmistakable this morning as Stewie clung to his mother with his dad, Rubani, huddling together on a log, peering into the crowd of spectators that had gathered.

Stewie was a large baby, Belcher said.

"He was born about a third of the size of the mother," she said.

Five guenons were in the pen this morning, including Nyoni, a female, who stayed close to Njano and Stewie, stealing scratches and caresses to the baby's head.

"She wants to be a mother," Belcher said.

Stewie makes a total of seven guenons, which weigh in between 6 and 8 pounds fully grown. They are very social and spend their days jumping, swinging and cavorting around their large pen.

Zoo officials say it's not unusual to have births in the spring, as most of the animals mate in the fall. It's a little unusual for multiple births to take place this time of year.

That may not be the case with the warthogs, which could be described as breeding machines with tusks.

Pogo, the burly father, roamed around the pen while the mother, Sybill, hunkered down under a log with her twins, born on June 12. They don't come out much. In fact, they come out from under the log only once a day for a quick run around and then dive back into shade, animal handler Kendra Stout said. The litter had included two other baby warthogs, but they died, said Stout, who cares for the animals.

Concealing the young warthogs, which have not been named, is typical behavior for mothers, Stout said.

Pogo and Sybill have had "four to five litters" since they came to the zoo a few years ago, Stout said, and they know the routine.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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