Exceptional birth of a baby white-handed gibbon in Sarthe

A baby white-handed gibbon was born at the end of July at Spay Zoo, in Sarthe. A happy and rather rare event, as it is the only birth recorded in France in 2025 for this species threatened by deforestation, emphasizes the zoo's animal manager, Maxime Thué. The baby primate, whose sex will not be known for a few months, when it begins to detach from its mother, was born on July 24. "This is the first baby of the couple formed by Fidji and Pépito," and this birth is the first in ten years at the Spay Zoological Park, near Le Mans, Maxime Thué explained to AFP.

Chronic

"Above all, this birth is essential for the preservation of endangered species. The white-handed gibbon is classified as endangered on the red list of endangered species due to deforestation and poaching in Indonesia and Malaysia," the veterinarian continues.

The zoo team was worried about how Fiji, the female with her first calf, would take care of her baby. "In the end, we realized that she was a very good mother, a little clumsy at times with her baby, but who takes really good care of it," he smiles, also emphasizing the role of the father, Pépito, "very delicate with him." "The calf will remain attached to the mother's belly until the age of three or four months. So for us, it's impossible to determine if it's a male or a female. It will detach itself around the age of three or four months" and will not be truly weaned until the age of two, explains Maxime Thué.

In addition to this baby gibbon, Spaycific'Zoo saw the birth this year of a Solomon Islands skink (a species of giant lizard nearing extinction), a first for a French zoo, three African marabou storks, two gray pelicans, and seven ring-tailed lemurs. Four capybaras, a dwarf mongoose, five Bennet's wallabies, and a dwarf zebu complete this Prévert-style inventory, which does not, however, include a raccoon.