Baby boom at Wellington Zoo

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Baby boom at Wellington Zoo

3News NZ

The pygmy marmosets (Photo: Wellington Zoo)

The pygmy marmosets (Photo: Wellington Zoo)

 

By 3 News online staff

There's been a baby boom at Wellington Zoo this week.

A Bolivian squirrel monkey was born on Monday, followed by pygmy marmoset triplets on Wednesday night.

"It is great news for us," said Primate Keeper, Jacqui Hooper. "As each of these mothers has seen how to raise babies in the past, we know the babies are off to a good start."

Visitors can see the triplets clinging to their father, Machu, and older brother, Cuzco, while their mother looks after the feeding.

"These babies help our visitors to make a very personal connection with nature," said Ms Hooper. "Having four newborns to come and see is really exciting!"

The little Bolivian squirrel monkey baby can be seen in the River Trail Aviary. Keepers hold a "Squirrel Monkey" talk there at 3:30pm each day.

"We're really proud of the contributions we are making to the regional breeding programme," said Collections Development Manager, Simon Eyre. 

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Update: 13/07/2012:

One of the pygmy marmoset triplets died overnight.

"While triplets occur in about 8 percent of births, they do have a higher mortality rate, as the demand on the mother for feeding is higher," said Wellington Zoo.

However, another baby squirrel monkey was born overnight - bringing the troupe number to 19.

3 News

 

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Comments

12/07/2012 6:52:52 p.m.

kingsley iyitor wrote:

Nature at its best see the wonders I never knew such animal like this exist i could have loved to see a video clip of it I love it.