A black and white colobus monkey sits on a wooden beam structure, cradling a tiny, white infant against its chest. The adult monkey has dark fur with a long mantle of white hair flowing from its shoulders and back, while the baby has a pale face and white fur. The pair is framed by wooden poles with a blurred background of foliage.
Mama and baby at ZooTampa. Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa

Visitors are sure to go bananas over the new baby monkey at ZooTampa.

Its sixth Angolan colobus monkey was born last Saturday, the zoo announced Wednesday, marking the first birth of the “vulnerable” species there since 2018.

“Both mother and infant are in good health, with the bright-eyed baby nursing and the mother exhibiting appropriate maternal behaviors,” zoo officials wrote in a press release.

The monkey’s sex has not been determined, and the zoo has not announced a name. But visitors to the zoo’s primate area can identify the newborn by its solid white fur as it clings to its mama. Its coat will turn black and white over the coming months to match the other monkeys of its species.

Angolan colobus monkeys practice allo-parenting, meaning all five troop members will communally care for the baby.

The species is native to the dense jungles of northern Angola and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Tanzania and Kenya. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies Angolan colobus monkeys as “vulnerable” due to habitat loss and hunting in those places.

Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa
Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa
Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa
Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa
Credit: Courtesy of ZooTampa

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This article appears in Dec. 04 – 10, 2025.

Selene San Felice is managing editor of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Prior to joining CL in 2025, she started the Axios Tampa Bay newsletter and worked for her hometown paper, The Capital in Annapolis,...