Venomous, bug-eyed babies of endangered species born at Smithsonian zoo. See them

Two bug-eyed infants emerged the morning of March 21. Their birth the night before was a triumph for the staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The duo were pygmy slow lorises, a tree-dwelling primate species from Southeast Asia.

“Slow lorises are the only known venomous primates,” the zoo in Washington, D.C., said in an April 4 news release. However, they don’t use their venom against predators but instead with one another in territorial disputes. They also groom themselves with their own venom to keep parasites and predators at bay.

Slow lorises are also endangered, the institute says. They tend to live 10 to 40 feet up in the forests of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. But “much of their habitat has been cleared for the logging industry.”

The March 21 birth was a first in many ways. It was the first slow loris birth for the zoo as well as the first offspring for parents Naga and Pabu. The parents had been taken to the institute together in 2022 in hopes that they would breed, according to the release.

“Keepers look forward to watching the babies independently explore their exhibit and play with enrichment items,” the institute said.

This story was originally published April 5, 2024 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Venomous, bug-eyed babies of endangered species born at Smithsonian zoo. See them."