Zookeepers Solved The Case Of A Female Monkey Who Somehow Got Pregnant While Living Alone

Japanese zoo staff were left completely puzzled when they noticed that a female monkey, who was thought to be living alone in her enclosure, was suddenly pregnant.

This curious situation unfolded back in 2021 when Momo, a 12-year-old female white-handed gibbon, was discovered to be expecting a baby.

The staff at Nagasaki's Kujukushima Zoo & Botanical Garden were completely stunned. The idea that Momo had become pregnant seemed almost like a miracle, especially because there had never been a male gibbon placed in her enclosure - at least, that's what the team had always believed.

Momo's pregnancy was initially a mystery Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden

It wasn’t until Momo gave birth to a healthy baby that zoo staff began digging into the mystery, trying to figure out how this unexpected pregnancy could have happened.

On social media, the zookeepers admitted they were stumped about who the baby’s father might be. They also shared that it had been nearly impossible to get close enough to test the newborn, since Momo was extremely protective and wouldn’t let anyone near her child.

In a post on Instagram, the zoo shared: "Just so everyone wants to know 'who's the dad' hasn't been found out yet because we haven't done DNA testing, but we found out the gender is male."

At first, it seemed like something out of a nature documentary - a magical moment of mystery. But after two years of questions and speculation, the team finally discovered how Momo ended up pregnant.

Speaking about the delay in solving the puzzle, zoo superintendent Jun Yamano explained: "It took us two years to figure it out because we couldn't get close enough to collect samples - she was very protective of her child."

The breakthrough came after they were able to carry out a DNA test on the baby. It revealed that the father was Itoh, a male gibbon who had always been housed in a different enclosure from Momo.

Japanese animal experts were scratching their heads over the conception Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden

As it turns out, love or at least biology can find a way. Being in separate cages wasn’t enough to keep the two apart after all.

Yamano told Vice that zoo staff believe the two gibbons had access to a shared area near Momo’s cage. This space was part of the public viewing area where both animals were rotated in and out for visitors to see.

During their investigation, they discovered a small opening in the wooden board that separated the two enclosures. This hole was just nine millimetres wide, but it turns out, that was enough for the two to connect.

Even though there isn’t any video footage of the two mating, zookeepers believe that it must have happened while Itoh was in the display area and Momo was nearby on the opposite side of the dividing board.

Yamano added that this situation was completely new for their zoo. Normally, the gibbons are carefully introduced to each other and placed together on purpose before any pairing or breeding takes place.

Now that the mystery has been solved, the zoo plans to bring Itoh into the same enclosure with Momo and their little one. And of course, they’ve sealed up that surprising little hole that brought them together.