Longleat welcome birth of critically endangered Cotton Top Tamarin
Only 46 have been born around the world over the past year
Keepers at Longleat are welcoming the birth of the critically endangered Cotton Top Tamarin monkey - on the International Day celebrating the creature.
They're calling it 'really exciting' as parents Maxi and Rico are the first breeding pair at the safari park, here in Wiltshire.
Only 46 have been born around the world over the past year.
The birth of the infant which weighed around 40 grams when it was born – the weight of an average egg.
Mum Maxi and dad Rico co-parent the baby from birth in the Animal Adventure enclosure.
Keeper Abbi Wheeler said: “We weigh Maxi and Rico weekly as part of our usual checks, and we saw her weight gradually increasing.
“Cotton-top tamarins usually sleep through the night, but Maxi was awake for an hour one night which sent an alert via the camera system as it was unusual; when we watched we saw her make a jumping movement and we saw a baby climbing around her side and cling straight onto her fur.
“It is really exciting as Maxi and Rico are the first breeding pair at Longleat, and they are critically endangered as there are only around 6,000 in the wild.
“They share parenting as carrying the baby takes up a lot of energy so mum holds while feeding and then dad carries the infant.
It is not yet known the gender of the new arrival which is part of the European breeding programme.
It is expected the infant will be fully weaned at around 15 weeks old.