Source: News & Observer
A curious baby baboon named Edgar is charming visitors at the North Carolina Zoo with his playful antics.
In a video shared by the zoo, the young primate is seen bouncing energetically and spending heartwarming moments with his family. “Our Hamadryas baboon habitat is action-packed,” the Asheboro-based zoo wrote in an Instagram post. “Come see this little dude in action at your next visit, isn’t he adorable?!”
The zoo announced Edgar’s arrival on Dec. 8, following his late-October birth to first-time parents, Zarah and Zanzibar.
“So far, Edgar seems very playful and inquisitive,” a zoo spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email. “His keepers say he is ‘just perfect,’ and guests appear equally smitten with him.”
In the zoo’s video, Edgar can be seen leaping into the air, exploring his surroundings, and cuddling with Zarah and his great-grandmother, Ras. The zoo celebrated Edgar’s birth just months after welcoming another baby baboon, Winnie, who made her debut earlier this year. An initial photo of Winnie showed her clinging to her mother while taking some of her first looks at the world, McClatchy News reported in July.
Hamadryas baboons, native to parts of Africa and Asia, are thriving at the North Carolina Zoo. With Edgar’s arrival, the zoo now cares for 20 baboons, one of the largest populations in the U.S., according to the zoo. Their exhibit mimics the rocky cliffs of their natural habitat, providing space for the baboons to display their rock-climbing skills and replicate their complex social structures. These include “one-male units,” where one male lives with several females and their offspring in a large, multi-generational group.
The North Carolina Zoo, located about 70 miles west of Raleigh in Asheboro, invites visitors to experience the excitement firsthand.
