Zoo Profile : La Palmyre Zoo, France

This section provides detailed information concerning the Owl-faced monkey group history, maintenance, enclosure and husbandry of the La Palmyre Zoo / Royan, studied by Beaver College research students.

( * = Animal named temporarily by researching Beaver College student)

Nina had straggly plumage, especially in the face area and a bad right knee due to arthritis. Natasha was about the same size as Nina, but her plumage was smoother in comparison. Natalie was still nursing at the time (Jan 1997), considerably smaller than the other monkeys, and had an orange/yellow tint.

Group History

The group was a breeding group consisting of a sire, dam, and two female offspring. Niels, the male, was at the time of observations ten years old and had sired both offspring in the group. Nina was a ten year old female and the dam of the group. Natasha, two years old, and Natalie, a nine month old, are Niels and Nina's two successful births. All of the monkeys at La Palmyre were captive born. In June, 1996, Nina's older sister was loaned to Lodz Zoo in Poland.

Enclosure

There were three sections to the enclosure; an indoor, middle, and outdoor. The indoor enclosure was smaller than the outdoor. The two opposing side walls of the indoor enclosure had small shelves approximately two-thirds of the way up the wall and a raised area that extended up each wall about one-third of the way toward the ceiling. There were tree branches along the length and width of the enclosure. The rear of the enclosure consisted of wire mesh which the monkeys climbed upon. The middle enclosure was a square, wire mesh tunnel that connected the indoor enclosure to the outdoor enclosure. The cube shaped, wire mesh outdoor enclosure was very spacious and contained branches for climbing and a big stump in the front left corner where the monkeys often dug retrieving bark and food. The monkeys were able to climb upon and reach through the outdoor enclosure's wire mesh and grab food and/or bark.

Maintenance

The indoor and outdoor enclosures were cleaned every morning at La Palmyre. The glass at the front of the indoor enclosure was cleaned, and the enclosure itself was swept out and replaced with new sawdust. The ground of outdoor enclosure was raked. The monkeys had continual access to water from a spout at the back of the indoor enclosure. During the day, the monkeys found and consumed bark and insects in both the indoor and outdoor enclosures. At approximately 17:00, the monkeys were closed off from the outdoor enclosure and given lettuce, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, and celery in a dish.

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