ISRAEL-BABOON Light-coloured baboon surprises zoo workers by giving birth to dark coloured baby

Record ID: 141066

  • Title: ISRAEL-BABOON Light-coloured baboon surprises zoo workers by giving birth to dark coloured baby
  • Date: 10th September 2015
  • Summary: RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 9, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DARK COLOURED BABY BABOON HANGING ON TO HIS LIGHT COLOURED MOTHER AT RAMAT GAN SAFARI ZOO BABY BABOON HOLDING MOTHER PEOPLE WATCHING BABY BABOON CHASING AFTER MOTHER VETERINARIAN AT ZOOLOGICAL CENTRE OF RAMAT GAN SAFARI ZOO, ARIELLA ROSENZWEIG, TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) VETERINARIAN AT THE ZOOLOGICAL CENTRE, ARIELLA ROSENZWEIG, SAYING: "For us, it's really amazing and we are very happy because we had already in the past two light-fur baboons but none of them gave birth. Sahara is the first one that gave birth, she gave birth although to a dark-coloured baboon but we still hope that the gene of the red-head (referring to the light-coloured gene) is still in our group." MOTHER NURSING BABY BABOON PEOPLE WATCHING VARIOUS OF MOTHER BABOON AND HER BABY
  • Embargoed: 25th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC1R0D4WHJSDKP9MT7YW8CCFTE
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Workers in Israel's Ramat Gan Safari zoo were surprised this week when they discovered that a female baboon with light-coloured fur gave birth to a dark coloured baby.
    The 4-year old mother, Sahara, who gave birth three weeks ago, has become the first light-coloured female baboon that gave birth in the Safari, the zoo said.
    It added that in order for the offspring to be light-coloured both the mother and the father should carry the rare light-coloured fur gene, which wasn't the case this time.
    The baby baboon received this gene only from Sahara, the zoo said, and thus carries it recessively which means it may pass it on to future generations, the zoo said.
    "For us, it's really amazing and we are very happy because we had already in the past two light-fur baboons but none of them gave birth. Sahara is the first one that gave birth, she gave birth although to a dark-coloured baboon but we still hope that the gene of the red-head (refering to the light-coloured gene) is still in our group," Ariella Rosenzweig, a veterinarian at the zoo, said.
    The zoo said zookeepers were worried that other baboon females would kidnap the baby from the inexperienced mother, as is usually the case, but that Sahara was defending her baby all the time to prevent this from happening.
    Sahara's baby doesn't have a name yet, but the zoo said they were looking for a name that also starts with the letter "S".
    Hamadryas Baboon (Papio Hamadryas) is a species that occurs in north-east Africa and faces local threats such as loss of habitat due to major agricultural expansion and irrigation projects, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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