PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria Zoo is introducing three baby spider monkeys to the public.
The Zoo’s Executive Director Max Lakes says their journey here from Mexico wasn’t an easy one.
“They were confiscated by U.S. officials at the border, and that was about two and a half years ago. They were being brought across for the illegal pet trade,” Lakes says.
He tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” that the young monkeys were brought to Peoria to live with the Zoo’s only spider monkey Darla, who is 30-years-old.
“Darla knows how to be a spider monkey, so with her being older and being raised in a group of spider monkeys, being a proven mother, she knows how to take care of them,” Lakes says.
Darla lived with her partner Butch, who lived to be 53-year-old, for 28 years before his passing last year. Butch was believed to be the oldest of his species at the time.
Black-handed spider monkeys have a median life expectancy of 27 years, but can live longer in managed care.
Spider monkeys live in large, social groups, so the addition of the younger monkeys is expected to have a very positive impact on Darla.
The three baby spider monkeys have moved out of quarantine and are living in a separate, but close location to Darla. They are slowly being introduced to her and their new habitat, and can be viewed by the public now.
Learn more about the Peoria Zoo and the spider monkeys HERE.
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