Oklahoma Welcomes Rare Monkey With Orange Fur

A monkey born in the Oklahoma City Zoo is getting lots of attention because of his brilliant orange fur, but it’s perfectly natural for a François langur, an endangered species that starts life with color, then darkens up as it ages.

When the baby boy grows he'll be jet black like his parents, Pam and Ripley, and, like them, he will also sport white sideburns. The mating pair came to Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens in 2021 and had their first born last year, a female named Fera. The girl was born a ginger like her brother, but only from the neck up; she has since darkened up nicely.

It is not known exactly why these monkeys start life with such a conspicuous coat, but it may be to help mature langurs spot the infants more easily, and perhaps even to trigger the instinct to protect and care for them. They’ll grow to be about two feet long and weigh around 15 pounds.

“Every birth is a cause for celebration, but for conservationists, this one is special,” Dwight Lawson, the zoo’s executive director said in a press release. “With such a small wild population, it’s all the more important that we raise awareness of Francois langurs and work to preserve the species and their habitat.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the François langurs as endangered, with only between 2,000 and 2,100 of these old-world monkeys in the wild, all of them in China and Vietnam. Worldwide there are 60 living in captivity. The newest addition in Oklahoma City has not yet been named.

Photo credit: Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden