Siamang gibbon at ABQ BioPark mothers baby robin in enclosure

A baby robin that wandered into the siamang habitat along the Ape Walk at the ABQ BioPark found an unlikely protector in Eve, one of the zoo’s resident siamangs. Megan Agena, a member of the primate care team, watched Eve groom the bird, try to nurse it and comfort it whenever it made noise.

Staff later fed the robin through the wire mesh so they would not have to separate it from Eve too abruptly. When the chance came to move the bird safely, keepers waited until Eve was distracted by breakfast, then removed the robin without injury. The baby bird was reunited with its mother safe and sound.

The City of Albuquerque shared the episode on June 27, 2026, and framed it as more than a one-off zoo curiosity. Eve’s response fit the BioPark’s description of siamangs as social gibbons that live in family groups of up to six, a trait keepers say helps explain why maternal behavior can be so strong in the species. The BioPark also has said siamangs are managed under an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan because they are endangered in the wild from habitat loss in Indonesia and Malaysia.

That conservation backdrop matters at a place like the ABQ BioPark Zoo, a 64-acre institution that has operated since 1927 and has long paired close-up animal encounters with education. The story of a siamang caring for a baby robin gives visitors a rare look at how keepers read behavior in real time, especially when an animal’s instincts run toward protection rather than predation. It also shows the daily work behind the scenes, where staff must decide when to observe, when to intervene and how to keep an unexpected guest safe.

The setting added to the scene. The BioPark’s Asia habitat expansion opened on October 5, 2023, with rotational habitats for species including siamangs, giving keepers a modern space to monitor interactions more closely. For Albuquerque families walking the Ape Walk, the robin episode turned a routine zoo visit into a reminder that even a small surprise can reveal something about animal behavior, keeper judgment and the BioPark’s larger conservation mission.