Baby monkey has a ‘big personality’

Visitors to the monkey house at Edinburgh Zoo have been meeting its newest arrival – a baby L’hoest’s monkey, who zoo workers say has a “big personality”.

The two-month-old youngster is the offspring of female Tumbili, who only arrived in Edinburgh eight months ago after a transfer from San Diego Zoo, California. Dad Kizizi was born at the Capital attraction eight years ago.

The new arrival is great news for the zoo, as Tumbili brought with her new genes to introduce to the captive population, which will strengthen biodiversity not just in Edinburgh, but all over Europe.

However, the little one is still waiting to be named because of its age. Animal team leader at Edinburgh Zoo Lorna Hughes said: “We’ll check to see if it is a baby boy or baby girl when it’s about three months old.”

L’hoest’s monkeys can usually be found in the tropical forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but deforestation and hunting has meant they are facing a high risk of extinction.