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Buy Tickets Baby Gibbon Adopted by Surrogate Moms Skittles and M&M
CINCINNATI, OH (April 14, 2023) — Sister buff-cheeked gibbons, Skittles and M&M, have adopted Kip the baby white-cheeked gibbon that arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden on March 7!
“We observed positive interactions throughout the introduction process, so we were optimistic that the three would do well when we removed the mesh barrier for the full introduction,” said Cincinnati Zoo zoological manager Victoria McGee. “It went even better than expected! Both females have shown interest in Kip and they have spent the last two nights sleeping all together in one hammock.”
Kip’s parents at the Dallas Zoo showed little interest in caring for him, so the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Program (SSP) recommended trying to place him with Cincinnati Zoo’s teenage females.
“We were hoping that Skittles and M&M would accept Kip as a member of their group, and that appears to have happened,” said McGee. “They both seem to be interested in being Kip’s surrogate mom, so he may end up getting more attention than he wants! While we are supporting Kip’s confidence with this social development, we already see grooming, cooperative feeding, and play behaviors.”
The group will continue to bond behind the scenes while Kip builds his locomotion skills on the special gyms that the Zoo’s volunteer enrichment team built for him. Look for updates on Kip’s progress and when/where visitors will be able to see him on the Zoo’s social media channels and on cincinnatizoo.org.
The Zoo opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. Members get Early Entry and are welcome to enter the Zoo at 9 a.m. Memberships are on sale through April 30th so join the Zoo at a discounted price and enjoy all the perks including visiting the Zoo as often as you like. You’ll want to come more than once for Zoo Babies, presented by General Electric Credit Union, which starts May 1.
DID YOU KNOW…. You pay more than $10 less per ticket, on select days, when you purchase tickets online! That’s a $40 savings for a family of 4!