Animals

A capuchin monkey at the Denver Zoo has died of plague and officials are trying to prevent an epidemic by isolating the primates and treating them with antibiotics. Zoo officials learned late Friday that the 8-year-old animal that died Wednesday tested positive for the flea-borne disease, according to a zoo statement. More than a dozen squirrels and at least one rabbit have been found dead of plague in the City Park area just east of downtown, which includes a golf course, the zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature of Science.

Lemurs are most commonly found on the island of Madagascar and smaller islands that surround it. According to fossils, lemurs made their way across the ocean after the island of Madagascar was seperated from Africa. The lemurs that were left on Africa became apart of the primate family. However, the lemurs that were left on the island were safe from the surrounding competition and quickly formed many different types of their own species. Lemurs, depending on their species, can weigh as little as 1 oz. to as much as 15 lb.