Marwell Zoo welcomes white-faced saki monkey native to South America

Keepers at Marwell Zoo have welcomed their latest arrival, a white-faced saki monkey.

The baby was born on Boxing Day to parents Manja and Twenke.

The new baby will live with its parents and older sibling Rei alongside the golden lion tamarins.

Manja and Twenke have had four babies since they were first housed together in 2016. Two of their older offspring, Denny and Diega have since moved to other collections.

The zoo says white-faced saki are native to Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil, where they live in a variety of forest habitats.

They are currently listed as being of Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened species.

At Marwell, the animals are part of an international breeding programme.

Although they’re listed as Least Concern, Marwell Zoo says their numbers in the wild are decreasing and as a result, white-faced saki are protected in national parks in Brazil, Guyana and Suriname.

Animal Team Leader, Amy Denny, said: “Baby will stay tucked into mum’s thigh for a few more weeks then will start moving up onto mum’s back to be carried.

“After this, they will start leaving mum occasionally for short periods of time and siblings may help by taking turns carrying the baby.

“It is really important for siblings to experience an infant birth in the family group as this is how they learn to care for their own youngsters.

“Manja is a very experienced mum who does an excellent job raising infants. Twenke will start to get a little more involved as the baby becomes more independent and will share food etc.

“They will also learn play behaviour by trying this out on their siblings, although now Rei is 4 he might not be too impressed with being used as a climbing frame or wrestling partner!”

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