The Thiruvananthapuram zoo has welcomed the birth of a baby Nilgiri langur after more than a decade.

The zoo said the rare new arrival was born on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) to Ranjini and Rajeev, a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old Nilgiri langur, respectively.

The couple, brought from the Forest Department’s animal rescue centre at Kodanad in 2013, had not had a child since 2014 when a female named Sona was born to them.

Nilgiri langurs, commonly called the black leaf monkey, hooded lead monkey or John’s langur, are shy breeders but at the same time can become agitated fast and display aggression. For this reason, getting them to breed is not easy.

Zoo veterinary surgeon Nikesh Kiran said a number of conditions have to be satisfied for successful breeding in Nilgiri langurs. One is male-female compatibility. The female langur should be on heat. Also, they should have a good nutrition status.

A team led by zoo curator Sangeetha Mohan, keeper Ranjith, and supervisor Ramachandran worked hard to ensure that a calm and secluded environment conducive to reproduction and proper care was provided to the couple in their enclosure, resulting in the birth of a baby after a gestation period of 200 days.

Zoo director Manjula Devi said in a statement said that since the Nilgiri langurs were listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the arrival of the baby was a big achievement. It is estimated that there are fewer than 10,000 Nilgiri langurs in the world.

With the birth of the baby langur, the Nilgiri langur population at the zoo has now increased to four.

The sex of the baby is yet to be identified, Dr. Nikesh said. Ranjini and her newborn have been shifted to a special ‘nursery’ enclosure for close monitoring over the next few days.

The two will be shifted to an open enclosure after a month so that visitors can see the baby, zoo superintendent T.V. Anil Kumar said in the statement.