Keepers had no idea one of their new monkeys was pregnant.
This zoo might have had a trio of new monkeys on its Christmas list, but Santa had another tiny surprise for them.
Keepers at the Zoo Knoxville in Tennessee were surprised Christmas morning to find that one of their newly arrived silvered leaf langurs had given birth to an orange "miracle" baby monkey overnight.
“We walked in today and noticed there was a bright orange baby on mama Tegan and clinging onto dear life like langur babies do,” Assistant Director of Animal Collections Kelly Cox said in a statement. “That was a complete out of the blue present for Christmas. It was unexpected.”
Cox explained the zoo has been awaiting the trio of adult langur monkeys, named Walter, Teagan and Melanie, for more than a year but had no idea one was pregnant.
"The baby is doing very well," Cox added. "We're overjoyed. It was just the perfect ending to 2017."
The trio and the baby are currently being held in a quarantined clinic as they get better acquainted with keepers and will be moved into a new exhibit that will be opened in the spring.
The zoo will welcome one more monkey in the next year, Cox said.
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