Sister buff-cheeked gibbons, Skittles and M&M, have successfully adopted Kip the baby white-cheeked gibbon. Keepers at Cincinnati Zoo had earmarked the same-sex parents as potential foster carers for Kip after he arrived at the zoo in March. His birth parents at Dallas Zoo showed little interest in caring for him it was recommended he be placed with Cincinnati Zoo’s teenage females.
Keepers initially cared for Kip themselves and gradually introduced him to his new mums - who have now taken to him like one of their own!
“We observed positive interactions throughout the introduction process, so we were optimistic that the three would do well when we removed the mesh barrier for the full introduction”, said Cincinnati Zoo zoological manager Victoria McGee.
“It went even better than expected! Both females have shown interest in Kip and they have spent the last two nights sleeping all together in one hammock.”
The group will continue to bond behind the scenes while Kip builds his locomotion skills on the special gyms that the Zoo’s volunteer enrichment team built for him.
“We were hoping that Skittles and M&M would accept Kip as a member of their group, and that appears to have happened,” McGee added.
“They both seem to be interested in being Kip’s surrogate mom, so he may end up getting more attention than he wants! While we are supporting Kip’s confidence with this social development, we already see grooming, cooperative feeding, and play behaviours.”