Page 34 - Bookfield Zoo Chicago Annual Report 2024

TUFTED CAPUCHIN
Tropic World: South America

TOTAL
BIRTHS
AND
HATCHINGS

5,255
PALLAS’S CAT
Desert’s Edge
TUFTED Capuchins

Pallas’s Cats In May, 36-year-old Zephyr and MEERKAT
29-year-old Jose arrived at Brook- Desert’s Edge
Johan, a 3-year-old male Pallas’s field Zoo Chicago. Zephyr was born MEERKAT MOB
cat arrived at the Zoo last July and here in 1987 and moved to another
was followed by female Ruby in zoo in 2014. The species is native
December. These wild Central Asian to wooded habitats in Central and The Zoo’s new meerkats arrived Meerkats are predators that mostly
from South Africa in April. They eat insects. They have one of the
cats are about the size of a domestic South America. Their name comes
cat, but their long, dense fur coat from the tufts of hair that frame their include a male, Tebogo, and four most sophisticated vocal languages
females—Dinari, Keeya, Naledi, and in the animal kingdom. For example,
makes them look larger. A flat head, face and neck, which are said to
low forehead, and ears set low on resemble the hood worn by Capuchin Naomi. Meerkats, members of the not only does a sentry call out an
mongoose family, make their home in approaching threat, but also the
the head, help them hide from Franciscan friars.
predators and prey, but also give grasslands, savannahs, and deserts type of threat.
They mainly eat fruit, seeds, as well
them a “grumpy-cat” look. that are arid and dry.
as plant parts. Their feces contain
They are adapted to living in harsh seeds, which they scatter around as Meerkats are highly social animals
and live in tightly knit, cooperative
conditions in semi-arid deserts, they move through their habitat. The
steppe grasslands, and shrublands. brainy monkeys are amazingly fast groups called mobs. A mob may con-
sist of as many as 30 individuals that
Their coat and their furry tail—which learners and are especially skilled at
they can wrap around their body— using tools. For example, they crack share an underground burrow system
with multiple tunnels and specialized
keep them warm when temperatures open nuts using stones as a hammer
drop to -30 degrees F. They scrunch and an anvil. They choose stones chambers. An individual plays a par-
ticular role in the group; roles include
down and stalk small mammals, birds, that are just the right weight and size
reptiles, and invertebrates in a habi- to crack open a particular nut. They sentry, babysitter, and teacher.
tat with few objects to hide behind. are very social animals and gather in
groups that average 18 individuals.

30 BROOKFIELD ZOO CHICAGO