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Nancy Yang

Minnesota Zoo welcomes 3 baby snow monkeys

One of three new baby snow monkeys
One of three baby snow monkeys born in the past three weeks at the Minnesota Zoo. The infants, born April 17, April 20 and May 1, are each staying close to their moms but are beginning to venture out on their own.
Courtesy Minnesota Zoo

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What royal baby? The Minnesota Zoo recently welcomed three — count 'em, three — baby snow monkeys that will make their public debuts just in time for Mother's Day this weekend.

The babies were born April 17, April 20 and May 1 to moms Yuki, Shumei and Yumoto.

"Each are staying close to their moms but are beginning to venture out on their own," the zoo said in a news release.

One of three new snow monkeys
One of three baby snow monkeys born in the past three weeks at the Minnesota Zoo. Although infants are a great source of interest to other females in the group, mothers do not allow other monkeys to pick up their infants for several weeks after birth.
Courtesy Minnesota Zoo

The babies' genders aren't yet known, outside of one male, and they have not yet been named. A zoo spokesperson said there isn't currently a plan for a naming contest and that monkeys are usually named by zookeeper staff.

The new additions join a "special group of 20 primates that is especially social," the zoo said.

Also called Japanese macaques, snow monkeys are considered a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They are medium-sized and recognizable by their reddish faces, whiskers or beards and long, dense gray fur.

They originate from Japan and typically live in troops ranging from 10 to 200 individuals.