Baby alert! Zoo welcomes first 2 babies of 2019

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is proud to announce the first two births of the 2019 calendar year—a dama gazelle and a silvered leaf langur.

These births are especially important because both species are considered at-risk in their native ranges.

The female dama gazelle calf was born on January 7, 2019 to mom, Layla, and dad, Zultan, making the calf the first birth of the new year at the Columbus Zoo. The calf has not yet been named and continues to bond with her mother and her one-year-old sister, Raisin, in a behind-the-scenes area of the Heart of Africa region at the Zoo.

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This region is currently closed for the winter months, but is scheduled to reopen in late April or early May, weather permitting.

Dama gazelles are facing a very high risk of extinction in their native ranges and are considered the rarest of all gazelles.

Just a few weeks after the birth of the dama gazelle calf, on January 23, the Zoo celebrated the birth of another threatened species— a silvered leaf langur. The currently unnamed baby was born to mother, Daria, and father, Thai. The sex of the baby is currently unknown but will be determined in the coming weeks.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species™, silvered leaf langurs are listed as “near threatened” due to population declines caused by habitat loss.

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