Young spider monkeys arrive at Atascadero zoo. Take a look at the cute new arrivals
.jpg "Three young Mexican spider monkeys arrived at the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero in February 2025.")
Atascadero’s Charles Paddock Zoo has welcomed three cute new residents — a trio of young Mexican spider monkeys who have joined longtime resident spider monkey Izzy, the city said in a news release.
The new monkeys, just under a year old, will bring a youthful energy to the spider monkey enclosure and the 45-year-old Izzy.
MGP Paintings gave the monkey habitat fresh paint coats to spruce up the enclosure in preparation for the new animals’ arrival, according to the news release.
Mexican spider monkeys are an endangered species, threatened by loss of habitat and hunted for the pet trade.
They are found in parts of Mexico and Central America in the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, which harbors the highest montane forests of Central America with the best-protected cloud forests in the region. The hotspot is one of the 34 richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth.
The Atascadero zoo specializes in animals present in biodiversity hotspots. Around the world, biodiversity hotspots represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land surface, but they support nearly half of all bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species that are found nowhere else on Earth.
The young spider monkeys join the zoo’s 300 other animals, including red pandas, fossa, meerkats, parrots, a Malayan Tiger, a variety of reptiles and more.
Located at Atascadero Lake Park, the zoo is open daily.
