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NYC - Brooklyn: Prospect Park Zoo - Hamadryas Baboon

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NYC - Brooklyn: Prospect Park Zoo - Hamadryas Baboon
animal planet
Image by wallyg
The Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) is a baboon from the Old World monkey family. The northernmost of all the baboons, their range extends from the Red Sea in Egypt to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. They can also be found on the Arabian peninsula, though it is uncertain if this population was introduced by humans or not. The Hamadryas Baboon was a sacred animal to the ancient Egyptians as the attendant of Thoth, and so, is also called the Sacred Baboon.

Males are often females as females, and this species shows sexual dimorphism in coloration. Males are silver-white colored and have a pronounced mane, while the females are maneless and brown. The face is colored red. A female initiates mating by presenting her swollen rump to the male.

The Hamadryas Baboon lives in semi-desert areas, savannahs and rocky areas. It lives together in groups (so-called Harems) of Alpha males and up to 15 females which the males lead and guard.

The loss of its habitat by transformation in field and pastureland represents the main threat of the Hamadryas Baboon, its natural enemies (leopards and lions) having been nearly exterminated in their range. IUCN lists it as near threatened.

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The Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn's only Zoo, is home to nearly 400 animals of more than 80 species. First established as a small menagerie in Prospect Park in the late 1800's, this collection of animals became the more formal Prospect Park Zoo on Flatbush Avenue that opened to the public on July 3, 1935. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the Zoo was part of a massive city-wide park improvement program initiated and executed by former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Closed in 1988 for a five year, million dollar renovation program, the zoo was completely replaced save for the exteriors of the 1930's-era buildings. Rededicated on October 5, 1993, it joined Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) world-renowned network of wildlife parks in New York City.


NYC - Bronx - Bronx Zoo: Jungle World - Slow Loris
animal planet
Image by wallyg
The Sunda Loris (Nycticebus coucang) is a slow loris. This slow moving strepsirrhine primate has large eyes that point forward, and ears that are small and nearly hidden in the fur. Its tail is a mere stump, but it has well developed thumbs. The Sunda Loris is a nocturnal and arboreal animal, sleeping its days curled up in a tree top and then prowling the night devouring small animals and fruit.

They range from Borneo and the southern Philippines in Southeast Asia, through Bangladesh, Vietnam, Southern China (Yunnan area) and Thailand. Adult slow lorises range in size from 21 to 38 cm and weigh up to 2 kilograms.

Slow lorises can produce a toxin which they mix with their saliva and use as protection against enemies. Mothers will lick this toxin onto their offspring before leaving them to search for food.

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The Bronx Zoo, located within the Bronx Park, is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising 265 acres of parklands and naturalistic habitats and home to over 4,000 animals. Focused on conservation, it opened on November 8, 1899, with 22 exhibits, 843 animals. The zoo's origins date back to 1895, with the establishment of the New york Zoological Society (NYZS), renamed Wild Conservation Scoiety (WCS) in 1993. Only the outer structure of the World of Reptiles remains much as it was in 1899. With the 1941 opening of African Plains, the Bronx Zoo was one of the first U.S. zoos to move away from cages and exhibit animals in naturalistic habitats.

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