After an accident claimed his arm, Cincinnati Zoo dubbed this new zoo baby 'Luke'
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Zoo's newest zoo baby experienced an accident in his first week of life that claimed his right arm, but he doesn't have a bad feeling about surviving without it.
The zoo announced on Monday that Pygmy Slow Loris couple Blackwell and Io Moth have been off habitat recently after welcoming a new baby (just the one though, we swear).
Mom and dad were taken off habitat for maternity leave, but their return to their habitats was delayed after the newborn "was involved in an accident," the zoo said.
The accident happened under the cover of night and out of camera view, so zoo caretakers said they aren't exactly sure what happened to the tiny prosimian, but in the end he lost his right arm.
"He got his name 'Luke' after Luke Skywalker, who is missing the same arm," the zoo wrote on social media.
Still, zookeepers and vet staff cared diligently for little Luke, giving him daily antibiotic injections, red light laser therapy treatments and supplemental bottle feedings every hour and a half until he was back to full strength, the zoo said.
Unlike his namesake, however, Luke won't be equipped with a metal robot arm — because he doesn't need it.
The zoo said Luke has already learned to navigate his life easily and — despite his species' name — speedily with just one arm.
Luke and his parents will return to their habitat in the first building in Jungle Trails soon, though the zoo did not say exactly when.
While Luke and other Pygmy Slow Loris's don't actually hail from a galaxy far, far away, they're as perilous — yet adorable — as any creature imagined for the Star Wars universe.
According to the Cincinnati Zoo, the species is the only known venomous primate.
The tiny prosimians, which are classified as endangered, have a special gland near their elbow that they lick when facing a threat. That gland secretes an oil that mixes with their saliva, creating a venom that can cause anaphylactic shock.
"Despite this, one of their biggest threats in the wild is the exotic pet trade," wrote the zoo. "In order to be kept as pets, they are often forced to undergo painful procedures to prevent them from using their venom and are kept in cruel conditions."
Because of that, the Cincinnati Zoo encourages animal lovers to monitor social media content and avoid engaging with, liking or sharing content that shows these tiny creatures as pets.
The Cincinnati Zoo is also a part of the Pygmy Slow Loris Species Survival Plan; Luke will one day go on to help his species' dwindling population by being part of the breeding program.
