On August 5th, the Safari West family welcomed our newest monkey member. We left it to you, our extended family to name the little guy and after over 1,300 suggestions we teamed up with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and put it to a vote. On August 31st we tallied the results and proudly introduced the world to our beautiful baby patas monkey, Gizmo Jaxon!

This month we are celebrating Gizmo’s two-month birthday and sending out a jubilant update. Young Gizmo Jaxon (Gizmo the name picked by the voting public and Jaxon in honor of Steve Jaxon, local radio host of The Drive on KSRO and long-time friend of Safari West) has already become an energetic and independent young man (monkey). He now spends most of his day rough-housing with big sister Jasmine and practicing his climbing skills. Just a few short weeks ago he could barely stumble around the grounds of his habitat and already he can almost keep up with his sister as she leads him on their merry chases.

Mom Izzi seems to appreciate the built in babysitter she has in her eldest and often leaves the two of them to their own devices. With the youngsters occupying one another, we’re also seeing Izzi and her mate Maurice spend more time together, something that seems to resonate with young parents on safari with us. That said, the patas parents find their alone time frequently interrupted by the wailing of their youngest. Whether he’s just hungry or tattling on his big sister, Gizmo’s cries always result in Izzi coming to her squalling son’s rescue.

If you want to see the most adorable little family around, come visit us and watch as our beautiful black-furred boy grows into a golden and gloriously mustachioed adult.