Chester Zoo monkey offers start months after foot was saved from amputation | EUROtoday

An endangered roloway monkey, Masaya, has given start to toddler Lagertha, months after pioneering surgical procedure saved her foot from amputation.

The 15-year-old monkey underwent a posh operation final summer time to take away a golf ball-sized mass.

Vets at Chester Zoo, collaborating with University of Liverpool surgeons, tailored methods for the process, as no prior examples existed for roloway monkeys. The intervention saved all however one in all Masaya’s toes.

Speaking concerning the new arrival, Zoe Edwards, primate keeper at Chester Zoo, mentioned: “Masaya is a very experienced mum and she’s parenting magnificently.

“Lagertha is only a few weeks old and is very dinky but already curious about the roloway monkey habitat and inquisitive about us.

“The fact Masaya’s foot has healed so well is a huge relief. If she’d had an amputation, we’d have been left with real questions about whether she could hold her offspring or continue with her normal behaviours.”

Lagertha, named after a Viking queen, is simply over 4 weeks outdated and concerning the measurement of a tennis ball.

open picture in gallery

The zoo is one in all two locations within the UK the place roloway monkeys may be discovered and there are only some breeding females in Europe, Ms Edwards mentioned.

Fewer than 2,000 of the monkeys dwell within the wild in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the place they face habitat loss and poaching, in accordance with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Masaya, now a mother-of-three, had been struggling recurring issues together with her foot since she arrived in Chester in 2023 and vets consider the abscess could have been attributable to an outdated thorn damage.

When swelling worsened final yr she was taken to the University of Liverpool Small Animal Teaching Hospital for a CT scan.

open picture in gallery

Charlotte Bentley, veterinary officer on the zoo’s animal well being centre, mentioned: “It’s not every day you take a monkey to vet school. We had to bring everything she might need, from anaesthesia equipment to medications and blankets.

“Following the scan, we decided an operation was the way forward. She’s been an absolute trooper all the way through and I’m just glad we were able to do something for her.”

Rachel Burrow, vet and lecturer on the University of Liverpool, added: “Working with primates is completely different from my usual patients, who are typically cats and dogs, and it was a real privilege to care for such a rare animal.

“It’s great to see the surgery was a success – she’s comfortable, active and using the limb well.”