Trunkline Magazine (Louisville Zoo) December 2018 | Page 5
age, they stuff their cheek pouches
with food and then scurry off to a
secluded retreat to enjoy their boun-
ty. They mainly eat fruits, insects and
small animals such as lizards.
Colobus monkeys: Radi, Shel-
don, Leonard and Rajesh
Also arriving at the Louisville Zoo
are four male colobus monkeys
from Columbus Zoo in Ohio. In the
remnant wild, colobus monkeys
spend almost their entire lives in the
trees and rarely touch the ground.
They don’t even need to come down
for water as they find enough in the
treetops to survive. The trees are
where they eat their diet of leaves,
unripe fruit, seeds, flowers and bark,
as well as relax and socialize with
each other. Individual family groups
need only a small patch of forest to
live in; this may sometimes result in
the monkeys coexisting with people
on the edge of villages where clus-
ters of trees remain intact. However,
Colobus monkey
these small forest fragments are
quickly disappearing.
Habitat destruction due to palm
oil production, mining, logging, hu-
man settlement and agriculture are
consuming their remaining habitat
at an alarming rate. These pri-
mates are often forced to creatively
compete with humans for natural
resources as human populations
expand into habitats previously oc-
cupied primarily by wildlife.
The good news is that conser-
vation groups are working to help
these vulnerable monkeys. Colobus
Crossing will feature a method that
humans are implementing to help
protect wildlife and address the
unrelenting competition for space:
“colobridges.” In Kenya, these pas-
sageways are built well above the
ground to provide a safe way for
primates and other tree-dwelling
wildlife to cross busy roads.
In the new exhibit, you will be
able to watch as the colobus and
Schmidt’s monkeys investigate simi-
lar passageways right over your head
while you use the paths underneath.
While you relax on the expanded
deck of the African Outpost, a
scenic view into their world will be
revealed, giving you the feeling that
you're peering through trees on
the edge of the rainforest and into
a grassy clearing where the mon-
keys explore deadfall created from
Osage orange trees. From this grassy
clearing, a "minimalist metal tree
Above: A platform serves as a "metal
tree canopy," creating a fun space
for the primates to explore as well
as an innovative space for keeper
training sessions.
Below: Original rendering of the
exhibit and its colobridges.
canopy" rises from the ground creat-
ing a fun space for the primates to
explore and challenging new training
opportunities for the Zoo keep-
ers. The Zoo keepers will use these
“metal tree canopies” to climb up to
the monkey’s level and interact with
them above ground, reinforcing and
encouraging the animal’s natural be-
haviors. This also creates a wonderful
vantage point for Zoo guests.
The Schmidt’s red-tailed monkeys
planned for the new exhibit also ar-
rive with breeding recommendations
from their Species Survival Plan (SSP).
SSPs are a coordinated effort to
manage threatened or endangered
species, facilitate healthy and geneti-
cally diverse populations in managed
Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Winter 2018 • 5