LINCOLN PARK — Stand down, Trump critics. Let's leave politics out of this, shall we?
Even so, it won't go undetected — or uncommented upon on social media — that the Lincoln Park Zoo's newest addition, a Francois' langur monkey born Monday, is distinctly orange.
That's actually as expected, as scientists believe the coloration encourages alloparenting, or "aunting behavior," with other females in the troop. The babies adopt adult black-and-white coloring between three and six months.
As the zoo joked in a news release, "Orange is the newest black" for the species.
For now, the orange infant's sex and weight are yet to be determined, as it's clinging tight to its mother, Pumpkin.
It's the seventh successful offspring for Pumpkin and Cartman, the zoo's breeding pair of Francois' langurs, as part of a Species Survival Plan. Lead keeper Bonnie Jacobs is actually vice chairwoman of the national Species Survival Plan under the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The zoo put out a video of the new addition and its family on Thursday via YouTube.
The babe is on display along with sisters Kieu and Orla, brothers Vinh and Pierre and adult female Chi in the Primate House.
"Pumpkin is an experienced and attentive mother, and the entire troop is being supportive,” said Maureen Leahy, curator of primates. "We recently updated the langur exhibit to include more dynamic elements such as vines, sway poles and pulley feeders, so it will be exciting to see the newest addition of the troop grow more independent and explore the habitat."
Francois' langurs are native to southern China, northern Vietnam and west-central Laos, but are endangered in the wild due to hunting and loss of habitat.
The zoo is free and open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, with the gates open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
