Altina Wildlife Park Altina Wildlife Park News 2023

[Swanson02]

And the surprise birth is…

Black and white ruffed lemurs. Triplets (2.1) born to Kintana, who arrived this year. She would have been pregnant on arrival as factoring in gestation doesn’t allow time for the new male (from the UK) to be the father; and the previous post mentioned the birth was a surprise.

NGL, I was hoping for Spotted hyena cubs, but a first time breeding success for the zoo nonetheless. Congrats to Altina!

Can Black and white ruffed lemurs be held in large groups? I've never seen more than 4-5 of them together

 

[Zoofan15]

Can Black and white ruffed lemurs be held in large groups? I've never seen more than 4-5 of them together

No, it’s really tricky to form large groups as female Black and white ruffed lemurs are highly territorial. Daughters are usually removed from the natal group at adolescence. Occasionally mothers and daughters (or sisters) can remain in a pair/small group - but only in the absence of males.

Red ruffed lemur are the same, which will be interesting to see how things pan out when they make it to the region!

 

[Zoofan15]

Paternity testing on surprise ruffed lemur triplets:

'Surprise': Three lemurs born out of the blue as search for mystery father begins

Paternity testing will be undertaken to establish the sire of Kintana’s triplets, which are believed to have been sired by a male at Darling Downs Zoo.

The male infants will participate in the breeding programme at other Australian zoos; while the female (named Volana) could remain at Altina.

 

[Abbey]

Paternity testing on surprise ruffed lemur triplets:

'Surprise': Three lemurs born out of the blue as search for mystery father begins

Paternity testing will be undertaken to establish the sire of Kintana’s triplets, which are believed to have been sired by a male at Darling Downs Zoo.

The male infants will participate in the breeding programme at other Australian zoos; while the female (named Volana) could remain at Altina.

It's fitting that the infant female's name, Volana, means 'moon' in Malagasy - a connection with mum Kintana's name (meaning 'star') and, personally, the little baby lemur white ears kind of look like crescent-moons to me.

Per Altina's Facebook page, one of the male babies has been named Masoandro, meaning 'the sun', which also fits the celestial theme.

 

[Zoofan15]

It's fitting that the infant female's name, Volana, means 'moon' in Malagasy - a connection with mum Kintana's name (meaning 'star') and, personally, the little baby lemur white ears kind of look like crescent-moons to me.

Per Altina's Facebook page, one of the male babies has been named Masoandro, meaning 'the sun', which also fits the celestial theme.

Volana is a popular lemur name worldwide. Looking over lists of Malagasy names, it’s easy to see why. Many are really long, so Volana seems to tick the boxes of having an appropriate meaning, being a good length (not too long/not too short) and being easy to pronounce (something Altina requested).

The remaining pup is a male, so it’ll be interesting to see what gets chosen. There’s some good names within Malagasy mythology - Zanahary is a sky deity, which connects to the celestial theme.