{"id":2190519,"date":"2026-03-24T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2190519"},"modified":"2026-03-24T06:03:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T05:03:45","slug":"surgeons-perform-first-ever-surgery-for-critically-endangered-monkey-weeks-before-she-gave-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/surgeons-perform-first-ever-surgery-for-critically-endangered-monkey-weeks-before-she-gave-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgeons Perform First-Ever Surgery for Critically-Endangered Monkey Weeks Before She Gave Birth"},"content":{"rendered":"

GNN often stays abreast of births among the Chester Zoo\u2019s\u00a0incredibly diverse\u00a0residents of rare and endangered species, but few have ever been cuter or rarer than this Roloway monkey.<\/p>\n

Chester Zoo is one of only two places in the UK that Roloway monkeys can be found, a spokesman said, and the breeding population there supports the animal as conservationists ponder what to do to ensure it can survive in its West African home.<\/p>\n

The mother is named Masaya, and before the 15-year-old primate gave birth to a daughter named Lagertha, she was the first ever Roloway monkey to undergo surgery in captivity\u2014to remove a golf-ball sized abscess from her foot.<\/p>\n

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Masaya had to have one toe amputated during the procedure, which was done at the University of Liverpool\u2019s Small Animal Teaching Hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMasaya is a very experienced mom and she\u2019s parenting magnificently,\u201d said
\nZoe Edwards, primate keeper at Chester Zoo. \u201cThe fact Masaya\u2019s foot has healed so well is a huge relief. If she\u2019d had a [full] amputation, we\u2019d have been left with real questions about whether she could hold her offspring or continue with her normal behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roloway monkeys originate from West Africa and are listed as Critically-Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Once common in the lush rainforests of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the Roloway monkey now survives only in isolated pockets of old-growth forest.<\/p>\n

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The baby\u2019s name is Lagertha \u2013 credit, Chester Zoo via SWNS<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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\"Masaya
Masaya at the Liverpool Vet. Hospital where she underwent surgery \u2013 credit, Chester Zoo via SWNS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Chester Zoo witnessed the first birth of a Roloway monkey in captivity in 2020, and Lagertha is the 3rd to be born since then. Edwards said it marked an important moment in the species\u2019 conservation. There are only a few breeding females in zoos in Europe, and only one other in England at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.<\/p>\n

Masaya had experienced recurring problems with her foot since she came to the zoo in 2023. It was determined to be an abscess, and when the swelling worsened in 2025, the decision was made to take Masaya to Liverpool for a CT scan.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not every day you take a monkey to vet school,\u201d said Charlotte Bentley, Veterinary Officer at the zoo\u2019s Animal Health Center. \u201cFollowing the scan, we decided an operation was the way forward.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According\u00a0to the New England Primate Conservancy, the Roloway monkey is now considered one of the most urgently threatened primates in the entire world. A big-bodied monkey, they have been hunted to such small populations that, ironically, they\u2019re now considered too uneconomical to pursue anymore, and so have inadvertently gained a short respite from poaching.<\/p>\n

The conservancy admits that the most likely chance for survival is for breeding programs like the one at Chester to continue the propagation of the species until such a time as their native forests in Ghana and the Ivory Coast can be appropriately and reliably protected from poachers and logging.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> by Andy Corbley was first published by Good News Network on 19 March 2026. Lead Image: Chester Zoo via SWNS.
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