New Arrivals at Lyon Zoo: Endangered Lemur and Tapirs Meet for First Time

The two Malay tapirs from the Lyon zoo were also able to meet at the beginning of the month in the hope of seeing, in the long term, the birth of a baby.

Happy events at the Tête d’Or zoological park. Among the novelties of the Lyon Zoo, a Greater bamboo lemur was born “after about 150 days in the womb of its mother”, indicates the city in a press release this Friday. This is a species of lemur usually living in Madagascar.

“Exceptional Birth”

His parents, Hajao and Saho, arrived in Lyon 8 years ago and have already given birth to four other babies. The sex and name of the new Greater bamboo lemur have not yet been determined by zoo teams.

“Since his birth, the little one from Hajao can be seen in the enclosure, well stuck against his belly, in the presence of his father and his sister”, indicates the city which recalls that this birth is “exceptional” for the program of protection of the species.

Visitors to the zoo can also discover the three young binturongs, born at the end of 2022, who are visible “almost every day with their parents”. This “unusual between cat and bear” species is also threatened with extinction “in several areas of its original range”, notably Vietnam.

An endangered species

The Lyon Zoo team also reports that the park’s two Malay tapirs met for the first time on May 2. So far, Pinola, the female, and Baru, the male, have rubbed shoulders only “at a distance” in order to “learn to discover each other”.

This meeting took place “outside” in order to “promote their mating” in the hope for the zoo to eventually allow the birth of a small tapir. Gestation in the female tapir lasts 13 months.

“Each birth is extremely important for the European program for the protection of this species, listed as ‘endangered’, which has only 15 breeding pairs and only 5 births in 2022”, underlines the press release from the city.

While waiting for a possible birth, visitors to the Lyon zoo can discover the couple of Malayan tapirs “in the outer enclosures of Asian Forests”.