Auckland Zoo has recently welcomed a very cute moustached monkey to the family. Last week a teeny-tiny emperor tamarin was born – it’s the first emperor tamarin ever born at the zoo.
The gestation period for emperor tamarins is just over 4.5 months and as soon as the baby is born, dad immediately steps in, helping to hold and wash the baby.
They’ll continue to get all their nourishment from mum with a feed every two to three hours until they’re ready to start on solid foods – like fruit, insects, nectar and leaves.
The baby monkey is yet to be sexed and named but the whole troop is in Auckland Zoo’s rainforest habitat.
Earlier in the month, the zoo welcomed the arrival of a squirrel monkey – it was the second squirrel monkey to be born at the Auckland Zoo in 2020.
Squirrel monkeys have the largest brain to body ratio of any primate – which means they’re extremely intelligent for their size. We can see this in their inquisitiveness, inventiveness and how they interact and groom our herd of capybara.
Auckland Zoo is currently closed to visitors due to New Zealand’s Alert Level 4 response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, the passionate and dedicated staff are still working hard to ensure that our animals receive the same high levels of care that they always enjoy.
