Lucie the Eastern Black-and-White Colobus Monkey

Origin and Life in Prague Zoo
Lucie was born in Besançon Zoo in France on August 21, 2002. Her date of birth is symbolic in a way: in Prague Zoo, she lives in a compound known as the Water World and Monkey Islands, which came into being in the lower zoo as a reaction of sorts to the calamitous flood of August 2002, the very month that she was born. Lucie and her family have at their disposal a spacious island complete with full-grown broad-leaved trees, so these gorgeous tree-dwelling monkeys can frisk and frolic among the branches to their hearts’ content and supplement their daily menu with delicious leaves into the bargain. In the wild, colobus monkeys are mainly leaf-eaters, so even in a zoo they appreciate the chance to tuck into a dish of leaves. The island is surrounded by a water-filled moat, which, as it turns out, the monkeys are able to cross, as they have demonstrated to us on several occasions by sallying out on scouting expeditions. Fortunately, after each sally the “fugitives” tried to get back home as fast as they could – and after a couple of minor adjustments to their enclosure the troop decided that all they really needed to be happy could be found on the island and in the adjoining house; and they have lived there contentedly ever since.

Temperament
Her keepers say that she is the biggest rascal in the Prague troop, adding with a smile that the saying “as curious as a monkey” must have originated when someone watched a primate with a personality like that of Lucie. She is bright and inquisitive and likes to peek into the little pantry where her keepers are preparing food for the troop – and if one of the monkeys ventures all way into the corridor, it is sure to be her. She even comes to say hello to people she knows and immediately tries to find out what they have brought her. The other colobus monkeys are much more timid: even when the keepers come to feed them, they usually do not dare to come too near. Not Lucie: she does not hesitate to jump up on the feeding bucket, where, with great relish, she sets about picking out the choicest morsels. And if she finds her beloved avocado, she triumphantly takes it aside to savor it in peace; but soon she is back for more.
Lucie has even passed her inquisitive nature onto her offspring. She raised five babies, the last one being born in March 2014.