Belfast Zoo welcomes two monkey babies🐒

Belfast Zoo has welcomed two special additions to its François’ Langur monkey family.

François’ Langurs are a leaf-eating monkey species found in the forests of Southeast Asia from south-eastern China to northern Vietnam. The monkey species is listed as endangered with an estimated 2000 individuals left in the wild.

On December 11, 2023 experienced mum Nicolene proudly showed keepers her new baby. The excitement was heightened further on the January 18th when keepers discovered another tiny baby, this time belonging to Mother Chua. Male François langur AJ, who is father to both, sat proudly amongst his family which is now up to 9 individuals.

Young François’ Langur babies are born a bright orange colourYoung François’ Langur babies are born a bright orange colour, which makes them easy to spot amongst the adults which are black in colour with a white stripe on each side of the face that runs from the corners of the mouth to the ears. They gradually turn from orange to black as they age, becoming fully black within the first year.

Zoo Curator Andrew Hope, who is the Studbook Keeper for François’ langur breeding programme in Europe, said: “We are delighted to welcome the two new infants into our Francois Langur group. Over 20 langur babies have been born here and each one is crucial to the Francois Langur European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) which has set goals to grow the population over the next five years. This will aid the long- term management plan that Belfast Zoo has recently established in cooperation with The EAZA office, the EAZA Afro-Eurasian Monkey TAG (Taxon Advisory Group) and the holders of the species.”

The sex of the babies has not been determined yet however the zoo has reported that both babies and mothers are thriving.

Take a look at the new arrivals 🔽

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