The primate section at Howletts has been having a busy time recently, with a number of important births over the last few months.
One of the most recent significant successes has been the birth of a Javan gibbon in October. This birth is of particular note because this infant’s sire ‘Ujung’ was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago. At first his condition was managed through strict control of his diet and tablets, but when his condition worsened he started needing daily insulin injections. For Ujung to service, he would therefore need to be willing to accept daily injections from his keepers, which required a lot of positive reinforcement training. After much effort, Ujung is now presenting both arms for his daily injection and is doing fantastically well and we hope to see a steady flow of youngsters swinging around his enclosure for many more years to come.
