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There’s a little monkey business in Houston — but it’s no joke.
Betty, an impossibly small Goeldi’s monkey, is being nursed to health by her human keepers at the Houston Zoo after the runt of the litter was rejected by its mom.
The puny primate weighed just 34 grams at birth – about 1.1 ounces, or the same as a lightbulb, the zoo said in a statement.
She is named for actress Betty White, who died Jan. 17, just two days after zookeepers were shocked to find the tiny tamarin.
“She didn’t have the strength to hold on to mom and to nurse appropriately,” said a clinician named Amy in a video released this week by the zoo, adding that Betty was born to “a first-time mom.”
“On Jan. 15, 2022 primate keepers at the Houston Zoo found a surprise waiting for them when they approached the Goeldi’s (pronounced ‘gell-dees’) monkey night house — a tiny baby hanging onto a branch in her enclosure,” the said said.
“Unfortunately, attempts to encourage Kylie to take the baby … were not immediately successful so the team made the decision to hand-raise Betty while continuing to encourage parental bonding.
“Betty and both of her parents, Kylie, and father Opie were moved to the Zoo’s state-of-the-art Animal Hospital to further her care under the supervision of the veterinary staff.”
Betty was born “significantly smaller” than a typical Goeldi’s monkey newborn, which weigh about 50 grams, the zoo said.
Betty is being fed every two hours to help her gain size, strength and health.
“Hard to believe it does take a village for a monkey this small, but it does,” Amy said in the video.
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