By Tom Buckham
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
It was an unearthly sound, like a clogged drain suddenly whooshing free with train wheels grinding in the background.
Even other primates seemed impressed Tuesday when the black howler monkey mom and dad loudly announced their 10-week-old son to the assembled media in the Buffalo Zoo’s indoor Rainforest Falls exhibit.
Lips puckered, Machado, the adult male, let out a low roar that supposedly can be heard two miles away in the wild and was strong enough in this instance to echo outside the new tropical South American habitat.
Soon Lily, the female, joined in, though her voice was more in the soprano range.
Meanwhile, little Mochima, perhaps a bit frightened by the unfamiliar sound, clung tightly to his mother’s back. Other species in the primate section — brown-tufted capuchins, squirrel monkeys and paleface sakis, also seemed startled, though one capuchin was brave enough to climb up to Machado’s branch to see what the noise was about.
Mochima, who was discovered by keepers arriving for work Dec. 18, is the first primate born in Rainforest Falls since it opened in September.
Though Mochima is a golden brown color like his mom, he eventually will turn black like dad and acquire the ability to howl like him.
The monkeys have exceptionally large vocal cords and make the noise to communicate while foraging in the wild, head primate keeper Jill Odachowski said.
“It’s to let each other know where they are, so everyone stays in his range and there’s no competition for food,” she said.
Mochima’s arrival bodes well for the $16 million exhibit, which opened to much fanfare in September and is designed to draw visitors even on ice-cold days like Tuesday, when temperatures were in the teens.
Flooded with natural light, heat and humidity turned up to simulate a rainforest, the building features a two-story-high replica of Venezuela’s Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall, and an array of native creatures, including capybaras, pirhanas, vampire bats, ocelots and colorful birds, as well as monkeys.
Visitation is expected to increase with the zoo’s return this week to a seven-days-a-week schedule. Hours are 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. daily. The chance to watch keepers up close as they work with animals will be offered during a Wild Workshop from 1 to 3 p. m. Saturday. The cost is $25. Call 995-6128 or go to
www.buffalozoo.org to register.
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