The Chattanooga Zoo is seen in this file photo.

The Chattanooga Zoo has added three black-crested mangabeys to its Gombe Forest exhibit.

Two females, Roxie and Suzy, and one male, Sam, were rescued from the illegal meat trade in Congo, Africa, and sent to the United State for safe haven. They originally were located at the San Antonio Zoo.

"All of us here at the Zoo feel privileged to provide a home for these highly endangered primates," Darde Long, Zoo executive director, said in a news release. "We hope their story will inspire everyone to get involved with and support animal conservation efforts both here and abroad."

In recent years, the hunting of primates such as black-crested mangabeys reached epic proportions in parts of Africa, zoo officials said. They are hunted for their meat, which is then sold on the black market.

Zoo staff members said warmer spring weather will allow the mangabeys to alternate exhibit space with their neighbors, the chimpanzees.