New Addition to Paignton Zoo

The attraction's Saki Monkeys have had their first baby.

The white faced monkey is found in the rainforests of South America. The shy, cautious animals eat fruits, nuts and seeds and use a range of sounds to communicate, including shrill cries, bird-like twitters and deep growls.

The pair arrived at the Zoo last autumn and the first baby was born on Tuesday 2nd February. Zoo keepers don't know if it is a boy or a girl yet.

Environmental Park Director of Operations and Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said the mother is doing well, “She is being a model mum. Only the mother is carrying the baby at this stage – no doubt it will clamber on dad later, when it becomes more mobile and more adventurous.”

Paignton Zoo research officer Kirsten Pullen is the European Endangered species Programme (EEP) co-ordinator for the species: “Their conservation status is listed as least concern but there is still a lot we don’t know about them. We do know they are hunted for meat, taken as pets and suffer from deforestation, so they will probably become increasingly threatened in the future.”