Rare Baby Aye-Aye Gets Weighed at San Diego Zoo
Posted on October 22, 2015
A rare baby aye-aye (named Fady) gets weighed by keepers at the San Diego Zoo. The baby female aye-aye is one month in the video, which was taken on October 15th. Fady was the first aye-aye born at the zoo.
The keepers distracted the baby's mother with a honey treat and then scooped the baby out of the next box so they could check her weight. The baby makes a squeaking noise in the video and the mother can be seen looking the baby's way as it is returned.
This little #lemur is melting hearts. Say hello to Fady, the first #baby aye-aye born at our Zoo. pic.twitter.com/S58ObuRuA0
— San Diego Zoo (@sandiegozoo) October 16, 2015Mindy Settles, primate keeper at the San Diego Zoo, says in a statement, "Aye-ayes are extremely rare in zoological settings; only a handful of zoos in the U.S. house these animals. Fady's birth on September 8 marks the first aye-aye baby born at the San Diego Zoo. Counting this infant, there are only 27 aye-ayes in North America."
Take a look:
Aye-ayes are found only in Madagascar. They are nocturnal primates that inhabit the rain forest trees. They eat using a method called percussive foraging. This involves the use of its thin, elongated middle finger to tap on tree trunks and listen for dead or decaying wood. Once they find the decaying wood or hollows in trees they tear open the bark with their teeth and then reach in to find grubs to eat.