A baby red-tailed monkey is being hand-raised by animal caregivers at the Houston Zoo

On April 10, a male Schmidt’s red–tailed monkey was born to mother Njeri and has been named Peter Rabbit in honor of Easter weekend. (Houston Zoo)

A baby monkey is being hand-raised by animal caregivers as he and his mother faced complications after the infant was born at the Houston Zoo.

On April 10, a male Schmidt’s red–tailed monkey was born to mother Njeri and has been named Peter Rabbit in honor of Easter weekend.

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Peter is being hand-raised by keepers and veterinary staff members after the infant could no longer hold on to his mom.

On the day of his birth, Peter appeared weak and fell from mom and onto the hay covered floor, according to the Houston Zoo.

Zookeeper team and vets evaluated the mother and baby after suspecting that the mother may have low milk production.

According to the Houston Zoo, Peter was dehydrated and had low blood sugar and was given supportive treatments including subcutaneous fluids and sugar before reuniting him with his mom; however, Peter quickly developed weakness again and had to be separated from his mom to receive care.

Peter and Njeri were moved to the Zoo’s veterinary clinic.

The animal care specialists bottle-fed Peter with mom nearby in hopes they could reunite quickly.

Zoo’s veterinarians discovered that Peter had a skull defect and took x-rays during his medical check.

The x-rays were sent to a radiologist and a human pediatric neurologist where it was confirmed that Peter had a skull fracture.

The Zookeeper team has decided to continue to hand-raise the infant so they can continue to monitor his head injury closely.

According to the Houston Zoo, baby Peter seems perfectly normal and his caregivers have hope that the fracture and any potential damage will heal without any issues with a goal of getting him strong enough to be reunited with mom as soon as possible.


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