A Year of Monkey-ing Around!

I think it is fair to say, if you asked the primate team how 2024 has been, we would all agree it has been a rollercoaster of a year! There has been so much going on this year so I thought I would use the last primate blog of the year to re-cap some of the things we’ve been up to! 

Animals Coming and Going

This year we have welcomed several new arrivals at the park as well as said farewell to some much loved animals as they venture further on their journeys.

Our first arrival came on the 16th February. Keepers were greeted with an extra special surprise when they arrived at work to find that one of our Howler Monkeys, Mila, had given birth overnight to a beautiful baby boy. Recently, by choice of the primate team, we named the new addition Millhouse which runs along our current theme of name’s beginning with the letter “M”. Millhouse is growing in confidence everyday and he is even starting to play with older siblings, Mali and Marlowe. Try saying Mila, Minnie, Mali, Marlowe and Millhouse really quickly, it can be a bit of a tongue twister at times!

Fast forward to the 7th April, the primate team said an emotional farewell to Spider Pig, one of our male Goeldi’s monkeys, who went to his new home at Shaldon Wildlife Trust in Devon where he is now known as Tucker. We made a direct male swap with Shaldon Wildlife Trust and in turn welcomed Eugene into the park. 

About a week and  half later we said another farewell to one of our female Goeldi’s monkeys who was transferred up north to Northumberland Zoo. Marge, who lived with Ebony (Goeldi’s monkey) and our two cheeky Squirrel Monkeys (Frodo and Samwise) has been living the life of luxury in her new home and Ebony was later introduced to Eugene. Continue reading to hear how their love story is going…

A month later, on the 17th May, we welcomed 4 new ring-tailed lemur boys to our newly renovated walkthrough enclosure. Scruff, Armi, Monty and Maki arrived from Africa Alive and have really started to come out of their shells, always hanging around to see if anyone has food and occasionally trying to sneak into people’s bags, they are a cheeky little group! For anyone wishing to get a little closer to animals, we do offer Lemur Experiences where you can feed and find out more about this incredible species!

Around 5 weeks later, the primate team were blessed with even more lemurs, this time black and white ruffed lemurs! Our three females became a firm favourite for many members on the primate team and Remmy, Rahona and Dubh are settling well into their new lakeside home! The girls can be a little shy at times but our apprentice, Callum, has been working hard to help them grow in confidence and he can now ask the girls to go onto the scales for weekly weight checks. 

Our biggest animal movement came on the 10th July! Extensive planning and all hands on deck were needed for us to welcome the gorgeous Awan, our newest, female Bornean orangutan. Thankfully, the switching over of Belayan and Jin went without a hitch and soon we reunited Jin and Awan. These two special individuals came from the same nursery group at Monkey World, Dorset and have settled together very well. 

On the 9th August, we welcomed a new Barbary macaque baby to the group. Our guests recently chose the name Kevin for the youngster, much to the ever growing embarrassment of the primate team who now have to shout the name across the enclosure! After just a few weeks, Kevin was starting to venture away from mum and can often be seen hitching a ride on dad, Momo’s back or big sister, Pip’s back.

Our latest arrival came during the early hours of the morning on 13th October. Everyone at the park knows how much I love the Goeldi’s monkeys so for me this was the best day ever. After months of closely monitoring Ebony’s weight, it became apparent that she may be pregnant and after just 6 months of being introduced, Ebony became a first time mum and Eugene second time dad! Ebony is flourishing and Eugene is very protective of mother and baby. Recently keepers have noticed the youngster starting to venture off Ebony’s neck and the independence is starting to creep in! If you want to catch a glimpse of the baby you have to look very carefully because Goeldi’s babies will blend in with the hair on their mother’s necks. 

Our final primate move came just a couple of weeks ago (10th December) where keepers said goodbye to our 3 female, ring-tailed lemurs. The girls will always hold a special place in everyone’s hearts and we wish them all the best in their new home in Essex. 

**EDIT – After Holly went on pre-Christmas annual leave, we had one more primate surprise to squeeze in before the new year. On 19th December, we welcomed two more, male ring-tailed lemurs to the park. Look out for them in the Lemur Walkthrough when you next visit.**

Training Success Stories

I think if you asked any member of the primate team what their top 3 favourite things are about being a zookeeper, they would all say training. I am extremely lucky to have a fantastic, dedicated and hardworking team that go above and beyond to develop the training of the animals in their care and we are always pushing to make progress where possible. So I thought I would share just a handful of our 2024 success stories!

Pygmy Marmosets are the smallest monkeys in the world. They are also arguably one of the most nervous primates too. But that hasn’t stopped Henry, who has managed to scale train 4 out of 5 of our group of tiny monkeys! The last one is still a work in progress and it can be quite the challenge trying to distract  four whilst focusing on one, however I have no doubt that with a little perseverance, Henry will smash this in a few months time! 

We get a lot of people come through our Nocturnal House everyday and quite often we hear “I can’t see anything, there’s nothing in there!” We have 7 bushbabies that reside in the nocturnal house, one group made up of four females and another group made up of three males who share their enclosure with Jose the armadillo. Faith decided that she wanted to try to get the bushbabies to voluntarily come down for weight checks which for those who have never seen how quick our bushbabies can ping from one side of the enclosure to another, coupled with the darkness and nervousness of this species, you might wonder how she has managed to achieve this! A lot of patience is a pretty simple answer! Oh and mealworms too! 

As well as the Goeldi’s monkeys, the mandrills are also up there with one of my favourites (I know we shouldn’t have favourites but everyone does)! And what a year it has been for our group of mandrills who now 5 out of 6 will venture onto the scales with very little protest! Shenzi, our smallest and most nervous, is still a little unsure of the scales but I am confident that with a little more time, she will see that they aren’t so bad after all!

A Year of Learning

Conferences and workshops are a great way for like-minded people to connect and share knowledge and experiences with each other. Throughout the year, keepers are encouraged to attend CPD days and the primate team have not disappointed! In March, we attended the Primate Nutrition Conference which was held at Marwell Zoo where information regarding diets and feeding strategies were shared and we have been able to implement new methods and feeding regimes to provide better care and welfare for our animals. In October, we attended the International Sloth Symposium at Chester Zoo which was 2 days talking about sloths, I mean what’s not to love! And in November, we attended the Great Ape Workshop at Paignton Zoo which has given us new ideas on how we can improve current practices. By learning and expanding our knowledge, our amazing keepers can continue to provide the highest levels of welfare for the animals in our care!

It has been a huge year for the primate team with lots of changes and new developments and I am excited to see what next year has in store for us!

By Holly, Deputy Head of Primates