In Sarthe, Spaycific'Zoo witnessed an exceptional event: the birth of a white-handed gibbon, an Asian species classified as endangered. It is the only birth of this type recorded in France in 2025. The baby, whose sex is still unknown since it remains attached to its mother's womb, represents hope for the preservation of a species decimated by deforestation and poaching in Indonesia and Malaysia.
A first in ten years in the park
The parents, Fiji and Pepito, have been living together since the summer of 2022 and had never had a baby before. This is the zoo's first gibbon birth in a decade. The team was concerned about the female's inexperience, but Fiji proved attentive, despite a few clumsiness. Pepito, for his part, is surprisingly gentle with his baby. The primate will remain attached to its mother's belly for its first few months, before gradually detaching itself and being weaned around the age of two.
A rich inventory of exotic births
This birth joins other successes of the year for Spaycific'Zoo: a Solomon Islands skink, a first in France, but also African marabou storks, gray pelicans, and several ring-tailed lemurs. Wallabys, capybaras, dwarf mongoose, and miniature zebu complete this colorful picture. But it is the frail gibbon, hanging from Fiji's belly, that is attracting all the attention today, a fragile symbol of a biodiversity that zoological parks are striving to preserve in the heart of Sarthe.
