Tennessee Aquarium celebrates birth of baby lemur

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Aquarium has welcomed a new bundle of joy … a pair of Red-collared Brown Lemurs, Kintana and John, residing in the Lemur Forest exhibit became first-time parents to an adorable and increasingly adventurous infant.

The Tennessee Aquarium says John and Kintana were seen breeding late last year, but Red-collared Brown Lemurs don’t exhibit many outward physical changes during pregnancy.

Testing to verify a pregnancy would have required the use of general anesthesia, which was deemed unnecessarily risky.

They share while delivering an early afternoon snack to the Red-collared Brown Lemurs on April 23, however, Senior Animal Care Specialist Sam Grote was surprised to see that, not only was Kintana pregnant, she was actively in labor.

“I saw an arm sticking out — an additional limb that was not there prior — so that was very much a case of ‘OK, this is happening,’” Grote recalls, laughing. “It was very much a big surprise.”

Within seven minutes, the baby was delivered successfully.

The Tennessee Aquarium says this birth — a first for the Aquarium — marks a significant milestone in the Chattanooga institution’s history of caring for these charismatic mammals.

During unscheduled weekday appearances in the exhibit alongside its parents — and under close supervision of Aquarium caretakers — guests may be lucky to see the baby clinging to its mother’s belly.

Soon, it is expected to graduate to riding on her back before eventually exploring on its own.

For the moment, the baby will remain unnamed, but the community will be invited in the coming days to vote for one via an online contest using a pre-selected pool of options.

They share a baby shower celebrating the baby’s arrival and announcing the winning name will take place on July 9. Details of the shower are available at tnaqua.org/babylemur. To participate in the naming contest, visit surveymonkey.com/r/FQ8CMQ5

Due to concerns with separating the baby from its parents for a checkup in these early days, the Aquarium’s specialists have adopted a hands-off approach and are closely monitoring its behavior from afar. 

“This is something that we have worked for since lemurs arrived here,” says Ocean Journey Lead Animal Care Specialist Maggie Sipe. “We’re very proud and emotional about it, and it’s really fun to have come this far and finally see it happen.”