'The youngster will spend the first few weeks riding on mum’s back' as first-time parents celebrate arrival of baby Goeldi’s monkey

The youngster will spend the first few weeks riding on mum’s back, and when it gets a bit bigger both parents will take turns caring and carrying. Keepers will name the baby when they can determine its gender; this will be when the baby starts to spend time off mum. Infants are weaned at around 65 days.

Male Rio arrived at the zoo in July 2017 and was the sole Goeldi’s monkey for some time, until female Eva joined him in January 2020 from Walter Zoo in Switzerland in a move which was part of the European ex-situ breeding programme.

Goeldi’s monkeys (Callimico goeldii) are small New World monkeys native to the upper Amazon regions of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, and take their name from discoverer the Swiss naturalist Emil August Goeldi. They have shaggy black hair, claw-like nails and long tails.

Lisa Britton, Curator of Mammals said: "This new arrival is important for the species as they are classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with their wild numbers thought to be decreasing due to the main threat of habitat loss."

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• goeldis monkey
• goeldis monkey born at paignton zoo