A critically endangered roloway monkey has given birth only months after a pioneering operation spared her from having her foot amputated. Masaya, a 15-year-old roloway monkey living at Chester Zoo, underwent complex surgery last summer after developing a golf-ball-sized mass on her foot. Zoo veterinarians worked with surgeons from the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Teaching Hospital to remove the mass and preserve as much of the foot as possible.
The medical team could find no previous examples of the same procedure being performed on a roloway monkey. Even so, the operation was successful, allowing Masaya to keep all but one of her toes. Now, Masaya has welcomed a daughter named Lagertha.
Primate specialists at Chester Zoo say the young monkey is already showing some of the same character as her mother. Rachel Burrow, a veterinarian and lecturer at the University of Liverpool, helped with both Masaya's CT scan and the subsequent operation. She said: "This was the last chance to save Masaya's foot before amputation.
Working with primates is completely different from my usual patients, who are typically cats and dogs, and it was a real privilege to care for such a rare animal. It's great to see the surgery was a success - she's comfortable, active, and using the limb well." The success of the procedure became even more important after Masaya gave birth. Being able to use her foot normally could play a crucial role in her ability to carry and care for her offspring.
Zoe Edwards, primate keeper at Chester Zoo, said: "Masaya is a very experienced mum and she's parenting magnificently. Lagertha is only a few weeks old and is very dinky, but already curious about the roloway monkey habitat and inquisitive about us. "The fact Masaya's foot has healed so well is a huge relief.
If she'd had an amputation, we'd have been left with real questions about whether she could hold her offspring or continue with her normal behaviors." A Significant Birth for a Critically Endangered Species Lagertha is Masaya's third daughter, making the birth especially valuable for a species facing an uncertain future. Zoe added: "Chester Zoo is one of only two places in the UK that roloway monkeys can be found, and Masaya is very important - not just to her family, but to her whole species. There are only a few breeding females in zoos in Europe." According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), fewer than two thousand roloway monkeys remain in the wild.
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