Rare Red-Capped Mangabey Monkey Born

September 30 marked the birth of a rare, red-capped mangabey monkey at the Denver Zoo. The mangabey was named Kanzu, a Swahili word for treasure.

Kansu is one of only 27 red-capped mangabey’s living in the eight North American zoos that count them amount their collections, including the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Binder Zoo in Battle Creek, MI and the Houston Zoo in Texas. Denver has six of these rare primates, four of them born at the zoo.

Red-capped mangabeys are native to a very small region near the west coast of sub-Saharan Africa. Although they acquired their name from Madagascar, they’re only found in the forest canopies of Gabon, Nigeria and Camaroon. The red-capped part of their name comes from the hair on the top of their head which is a dark red maroon color