Chester Zoo monkey gives birth months after foot was saved from amputation
Masaya, an endangered roloway monkey, gave birth to baby Lagertha, months after a pioneering surgery saved her foot from amputation.
The 15-year-old monkey underwent a complex operation last summer to remove a golf ball-sized mass.
Vets at Chester Zoo, in collaboration with University of Liverpool surgeons, adapted techniques for the procedure as no previous examples had been available for roloway monkeys. The intervention saved all but one of Masaya’s toes.
Zoe Edwards, chief keeper at Chester Zoo, said of the new arrival: “Masaya is a very experienced mother and is parenting brilliantly.
“Lagertha is only a few weeks old and very vigorous, but she is already curious about the roloway monkey habitat and curious about us.
“It was a huge relief that Masaya’s foot healed so well. If the amputation had occurred, we would have been faced with real questions about whether she would be able to hold her child or continue normal behavior.”
Named after a Viking queen, Lagertha is just over four weeks old and about the size of a tennis ball.
Ms Edwards said the zoo was one of only two places in the UK where roloway monkeys could be found, with only a few breeding females found in Europe.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the number of monkeys living in the wild in Ghana and Ivory Coast is fewer than 2,000; They face habitat loss and poaching.
Masaya, now a mother of three, has had recurring problems with her foot since arriving in Chester in 2023 and vets believe the abscess may have been caused by an old thorn injury.
When the swelling got worse last year, he was taken to the University of Liverpool Small Animal Teaching Hospital for a CT scan.
Charlotte Bentley, veterinary officer at the zoo’s animal health centre, said: “It’s not every day you take a monkey to vet school. We had to bring everything he might need, from anesthesia equipment to medications and blankets.”
“After the scan, we decided the only way forward was an operation. He was a trooper from the start and I’m so glad we were able to do something for him.”
Rachel Burrow, veterinarian and lecturer at the University of Liverpool, added: “Working with primates is completely different to my normal patients, which are usually cats and dogs, and it was a real privilege to care for such a rare animal.
“It’s great to see that the surgery was a success; he is comfortable, active and has good use of his limb.”
