A zoo in Japan thinks it has finally figured out how one of its monkeys – the female monkey – could have become pregnant while the female lived alone in her enclosure.
The case began in February 2021 when “Momo” gave birth to a baby primate, which shocked zoo keepers, Global News reported. The animal has not had any contact with other animals for a long time. So how could the situation be explained? It took zoo officials two years to conduct any real investigation, specifically by collecting hair from the baby monkey. The mother, who is very protective of her child, made life difficult for the employees.
The latter eventually discovered a hole a very small centimeter wide through the enclosure. In the next cage lived a male named Itoh. The zoo therefore concluded that the baby monkey would have been conceived by this small mistake.
The zoo installed a steel panel to camouflage the hole. The two monkeys and their baby would soon be reunited in the same enclosure.