‘Playful’ and curious baby baboon delights visitors at NC Zoo. See him jump around
A “playful” baby baboon has a curious nature — and he’s delighting visitors at the North Carolina Zoo.
Video shows Edgar the little primate bouncing around as he spent precious moments with his family.
“Our hamadryas baboon habitat is action packed,” the zoo, located in Asheboro, wrote in a Facebook post. “Come see this little dude in action at your next visit, isn’t he adorable?!”
The zoo shared the news of Edgar’s arrival Dec. 8, more than a month after the wildlife park welcomed him in late October. He was born to mom Zarah and dad Zanzibar, both first-time parents.
“So far, Edgar seems very playful and inquisitive,” a zoo spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email. “His keepers say he is ‘just perfect,’ and guests appear equally smitten with him.”
In the zoo’s video, Edgar can be seen jumping into the air and checking out his surroundings. He also snuggled in the clip, which featured Zarah and Ras, the baby’s great-grandmother.
The zoo celebrated Edgar’s birth months after welcoming another baboon, Winnie. An early photo showed her clinging to her mom as she got some of her first glimpses of the world, McClatchy News reported in July.
Hamadryas baboons are native to parts of Africa and Asia, according to the San Diego Zoo. After Edgar’s birth, the North Carolina Zoo said it now cares for 20 of the animals, making it one of the largest concentrations in the United States.
The baboons live in an exhibit that “mirrors the cliff faces of their natural habitat and lets them show off their rock-climbing skills. The size allows multiple males to form ‘one-male units’ (one male, a few females and their offspring), replicating their dynamic social system within a large, multi-generational group,” the wildlife park wrote on its website.
Asheboro is a roughly 70-mile drive west from Raleigh.
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 7:12 AM with the headline "‘Playful’ and curious baby baboon delights visitors at NC Zoo. See him jump around."
