BROOKLYN — They have their mother’s eyes and their father’s bright red butt.
A pair of baby baboons joined their parents at the Prospect Park Zoo’s Hamadryas exhibit, zoo officials announced Monday.
The half-brothers were born about 8 weeks apart, one in early August and the other in late September. Their father is Bole, a 21-year-old Hamadryas baboon who happens to be the dominant male in the zoo’s exhibit. Their mothers are Rebecca and Kaia, both 10 years old.
It has been three years since baby baboons were born at the Prospect Park Zoo, officials said.
Both youngsters have adjusted well to zoo life. The older, more adventurous brother, has begun to explore his surroundings while the younger brother is still nursing.
Hamadryas baboons, which can be found in northeastern Africa and the Arab Peninsula, are highly social animals and spend much of their time grooming one another, a behavior that maintains social bonds within the group.
The exhibit is located in the zoo’s Animal Lifestyle building along with the piranhas, Pallas cats, and Tamarin monkeys.