Lemur aunt raises baby after mom rejects the little one. See the new zoo family
Three newborn baby lemurs are now thriving at a Colorado zoo after a sad situation threatened to jeopardize the little family, officials said.
The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo announced the newborns’ births in an April 21 news release, yet it wasn’t any regular old birth announcement. It started with a sad tale that ended with a heartwarming twist.
“The leading lady of Lemur Island, 12-year-old ring-tailed lemur matriarch, Allagash, has her hands full,” the zoo said in the release. “She’s caring for all three bundles of joy, born on Thurs., March 20, 2025, but she didn’t give birth to all three. Rogue, Allagash’s sister, also gave birth on March 20, and Allagash has accepted Rogue’s offspring as her own.”
The Colorado Springs zoo explained how lemurs’ matriarchal social structure contributed to the adoption story.
“Lemur conspiracies (what a group of lemurs is called) are matriarchal, and Allagash has led the CMZoo troop since its early days,” the zoo said. “The dominant female’s offspring are typically second-in-command, followed in rank by any other females, with males at the bottom of the social ranks. When Allagash and Rogue had their babies on the same day, staff saw that complex hierarchy in action.”
The day after the lemur moms gave birth, Rogue was separated from her baby during a chase, officials said. Zoo staff tried reuniting her with her offspring, but she rejected the baby.
Allagash immediately accepted the baby as her own when staff presented Rogue’s pup to her, officials said.
Staff have kept the sisters separated by a mesh panel since then “to reestablish peace and safety for the troop,” the zoo said.
“Staff are monitoring all lemurs closely, and have seen calm interaction through mesh between the group and Rogue,” officials said. “They have seen Rogue grooming Allagash (a sign of calm respect and bonding between the sisters) and the babies.”
The troop also chooses to sleep next to Rogue on either sides of the mesh, and the zoo hopes the positive display means it can reunite the troop soon, officials said.
All three babies constantly cling to Allagash and nurse from her, indicating “the pups are healthy and bonding well,” officials said.
Videos on the zoo’s social media pages show the bonding process.
“The babies are quite active while climbing on Allagash, which makes her kind of like a lemur jungle gym for the little ones,” animal keeper Michael Barnas said in the release. “While two are nursing, the other rides on her back, and they rotate positions to nurse.”
The babies will maintain this bonding process for about a month before they start exploring on their own, officials said.
“They have started venturing off Allagash for brief moments, onto tree branches and their dad, Hercules,” the zoo said. “They seem to really enjoy jumping up and down in the sunshine, too.”
One baby jumped from Allagash’s torso up to her face recently, officials said.
“Allagash looked a little surprised at its landing spot and gently moved the baby from her nose to her neck, where it quickly settled in for another nap,” Barnas said. “She’s a great mom, and the babies seem strong. In between rotating nursing opportunities, she rotates grooming them, which is important for their bonds and cleanliness.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 7:17 AM with the headline "Lemur aunt raises baby after mom rejects the little one. See the new zoo family."
