Santa Gifts Zoo Knoxville Surprise Monkey Baby For Christmas

Zoo Knoxville had put three langur monkeys on its Christmas list, but Santa added an extra.

According to WBIR, the facility welcomed three adult Silvered-Lead Langur monkeys, a new species to the zoo, to their Asian Trek exhibit shortly before Christmas, not realizing that one of the females was pregnant.

On Christmas, zoo employees noticed a small orange ball of fluff clinging to one of the new residents.

Unaware that one of the monkeys was pregnant, the zoo missed the birth of the little “miracle baby” but are ecstatic to welcome another member to their family.

“It was completely out of the blue,” the zoo’s assistant director of animal collections Kelly Cox told WBIR. “We are overjoyed to say this baby is doing just well.”

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The zoo is keeping a close eye on the baby and the other langur monkeys, who moved to Knoxville from the Santa Ana Zoo, to make sure the group adjusts well to their new surroundings.

Once the zoo feels confident that the monkeys are comfortable, the animals will make their public debut. Zoo Knoxville expects this highly anticipated event to occur in the next few months.