A Woolly
Retirement
According to the Chinese
Zodiac, 2016 is the year of the
monkey which means lots of
changes! This year has proven
lively for the Louisville Zoo so
far, bringing many twists and
turns.
As you know, in the
early part of the year, the
Africa zone underwent some major
construction, with the renovation
the elephant areas and enlarging of
guest walkways near the zebra exhibit. If you’ve visited the Zoo lately,
you may have noticed that Monkey
Island (formerly the woolly monkey
exhibit) near the African Outpost
remains inaccessible.
We are pleased to announce
construction will be underway
soon for an exciting new African
primate exhibit to be located in
place of current Monkey Island.
This new exhibit
was outlined in
the Louisville Zoo’s
new master plan
unveiled earlier this
year, which contains our vision for
the future of the
Zoo. You can learn
more at louisvillezoo.org/masterplan.
The first step of this exciting new
adventure meant that it was time
for our woolly monkeys, Henry (20
years old) and Tomas (17 years old),
to officially celebrate their retirement! The plans to remove woolly
monkeys from exhibit have been in
place for some time; the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)
New World Primate Taxon Advisory
Group announced plans in the late
1990s to phase woolly monkeys
out of North American zoo collections. The decision was made so
12 • Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Fall 2016
Zoo Keeper Silvia Zirkelbach
grooms woolly monkey Henry
with a small brush.
that European zoos could lead the
focus on helping this species. Henry
and Tomas remained at the Louisville Zoo due to our excellent woolly
monkey care. They are now the last
two woolly monkeys left in a North
American zoo.
Henry and Tomas had their rare
status documented in June 2014,
when renowned National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore
visited Louisville Zoo to photograph