Senior Keeper, Holly
Hi everyone, I’m Holly, the Senior Primate Keeper here at Wingham Wildlife Park. For my first blog I could have dedicated to all of the primates that everyone loves to talk about here at Wingham Wildlife Park. However, I chose instead to write this one about the “other” monkeys. The monkeys that are often overlooked or definitely under appreciated.
Everyone talks about Lucas and Elizabeth (Chimpanzees), or Edgar the Emperor Tamarin, or Pickle (Gibbon) to name a few. Well, I’m here to introduce you to some other members of the primate squad who deserve a little recognition for just being awesome.
The Colobus Monkeys
I think if you asked any member of the primate team, the most common things we hear from the public about the Colobus is “wow, they look so grumpy” or “they look like old men”. To be honest, in terms of appearance, I can see what people mean. But in the blog, I’m here to debunk that!
Here at Wingham Wildlife Park, we have four Colobus Monkeys; Ronnie, Reggie, Rupert and Roger. They look very much alike but our boys each have very different personalities. Roger is by far the cheekiest of our boys, usually trying to grab whatever tasty treats you might have and not at all inclined to share with the rest of the group.
Despite Ronnie’s quiet and shy personality, he is always eager during training sessions and often referred to as star of the week. Reggie’s big poofy hair matches his big personality. He’s a confident lad who loves to sit at the window watching all the faces go by. And last but by no means least we have Rupert who is the smallest of our Colobus group but has the sweetest and most gentle nature.
The Vervet Monkeys
Having Artic Wolves, Meerkats and Red Panda surrounding your enclosure I can imagine that our Vervet Monkeys feel very unappreciated! Darwin, Rizzle, Lizzie and Bessy make up our group here at the park and they are a characterful group to say the least.
These four monkeys enjoy nothing more than to bounce around their enclosure and show off. Both Darwin and Rizzle can be quite shy and reserved during training sessions. They often let Lizzie and Bessy run the show. For me, the cutest thing about our Vervet Monkeys is when they have their cheek pouches stuffed with food… way cuter than any chubby cheeked hamster!
Momo the Barbary Macaque
For any group of animals, if there is a baby involved, nine times out of ten no adult gets a look in. Momo is our dominant male Barbary Macaque, handsome and fearless, he is the perfect protector for our females and two youngsters. When Momo became a first-time father, to say keepers felt uneasy was an understatement. But Momo has proved everyone wrong, being a doting dad to both his youngsters and helping mum Hyatt share the responsibilities of parenthood.
The Bushbabies
Recently moved to our Nocturnal House, blink and you’ll miss them, we have our two groups of Senegal or Lesser Bushbabies. These insanely adorable little primates are becoming more and more confident with each day as they adapt to their new enclosures. We hope to soon be able to train these cuties for voluntary routine health checking and weighing. We have eight Bushbabies in total here at Wingham, and quite often people will just stroll straight past unaware that little eyes are watching. So, next time you visit, stay a few minutes, they may just come out to say hello.
The Pygmy Marmosets
The world’s smallest monkey. The finger monkeys. Shy. Elusive. Five tiny monkeys. Sol. Lopez. Carlos. Nico. Cruz.
Living with Edgar, who is a cheeky character with a big personality, I can imagine that the Pygmy Marmosets are often overlooked. The definition of cuteness overload, our five boys have grown in confidence since arriving. They are quite often seen grooming with Edgar or trying to lap up some marmoset gum before Edgar eats it all.
Olive the Mandrill
Back in August 2022, George wrote a wonderful blog all about the Mandrills because I asked her to as I had fallen in love with the species. A year and a bit later, nothing has changed, although the Goeldi’s monkeys are a very close second.
At Wingham Wildlife Park we have a group of six Mandrills, and I could argue that all of them are overlooked and underappreciated but for this blog I want to talk about one individual in particular, Olive.
Olive is one of our lower ranking members in the group. She is usually the last to get food to avoid any conflict. She is the mother to Rafiki and Shenzi who definitely do not take after her in personality. Rafiki being confident and boisterous and Shenzi being incredibly noisy, usually heard before seen. Despite her reserved nature, Olive usually comes out as star pupil during training sessions. She is always eager to show off and progress.
So next time you visit the park, be sure to say hello to the unsung heroes of the primate squad who never fail to put a smile on our faces.
