Baby of endangered spider monkey, new guest at Venezuelan zoo

A family-run zoo near Caracas dedicated to Venezuelan flora and fauna is celebrating the recent birth of a female spider monkey that brings hope for preserving a critically endangered species. The Leslie Pantin Zoo, which specializes in Venezuelan fauna, conserves a troop of this impressive primate.

As a result of urbanization, crops, livestock, hunting for consumption, and trafficking for personal pets or tourist sites, its gradual disappearance has led to only a few specimens left in the country. At the zoo, they see this new breeding and others to come as the beginning of a possible re-insertion into the wild.