Young Spider Monkey Sully Loses Arm After Injury at Brevard Zoo, Animal Care Team Immediately Came to Aid

Brevard Zoo prides itself on being a safe place for animal residents to spend their lives

BREVARD COUNTY • FLORIDA — Brevard Zoo officials said that one of their black-handed spider monkeys lost his arm after a chance accident. On Wednesday morning, our 10-month-old male spider monkey, Sully, weaved his arm through the habitat’s mesh-style fencing and was unable to pull it back through.

“His animal care team and troop immediately came to his aid, and his keepers cut the mesh to free him,” said a Brevard Zoo official.

“After radiographs and additional consultation with a board-certified veterinary surgeon, our veterinary team determined that the best course of action for Sully was to amputate the entire arm.”

Unfortunately, his arm was broken at the elbow, and an assessment of the injury found that there was a 10 percent or less chance Sully would be able to have normal function of the limb if it remained, said Zoo veterinarian Trevor Zachariah.

Keeping the arm could have led to Sully being unable to fully use the limb, experiencing long-lasting pain, and possibly re-injuring the limb.

“Due to his age, healing and adjustment to the absence of the limb are expected to be rapid,” Dr. Zachariah said. “Primates with a missing arm are still able to thrive. This is especially true for spider monkeys since they have prehensile tails.”

After an overnight stay in the L3 Harris Animal Care Center, Sully is recovering in his on-habitat nighthouse with his mother, Tika. The veterinary and animal care team will continue to monitor his healing progress. They expect Sully to recover well and be back in his habitat soon. The animal care team will be on hand to help him and Tika with reintroductions to the rest of the troop.

This is the first time an injury like this has happened within our spider monkey troop in the decades we’ve been home to this species. All our habitats exceed the regulations from a number of regulatory agencies, like the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and US Department of Agriculture.

Brevard Zoo prides itself on being a safe place for animal residents to spend their lives, and we hate that this chance accident has led to such a severe injury. We are committed to helping Sully heal fully from his injury and continue to be a regular member of the troop.

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