Surprise new arrival at West Midland Safari Park in time for Mother's Day

Keepers at the Bewdley attraction were surprised to find their pair of grey-handed douroucouli had given birth to a baby earlier this month.

The appearance of the tiny monkey - also known as night monkeys or owl monkeys - came as a complete surprise to staff, as they had no idea eight-year-old mother Kyna was pregnant.

Baby douroucouli only weigh 3oz at birth - so although the adults are weighed weekly, there was no indication that Kyna was carrying a baby.

Amy Sewell, head keeper at the Park’s Discovery Trail, said: “Finding the cute new baby was a huge surprise for our keepers. My colleague had entered the enclosure and knew that something was different when the male, Ilay, didn’t come down to say hello, as he is usually very friendly.

“He then heard some tiny, unusual cries, followed by spotting a very small tail hanging down underneath Ilay’s back.

“Grey-handed night monkeys are listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, so we are delighted that our two resident douroucouli have had a baby.

“At present, we don’t know the sex as dad is doing his job and being very protective. From day one, dad will do 90 per cent of carrying the infant and mum will just do the feeding, which is a nice treat on Mother’s Day.

“We hope all of our guests have just as a relaxing time as Kyna, on Sunday!”

All animals born at West Midland Safari Park during 2019 have to have a name beginning with ‘H’ - and keepers are already thinking of names, despite not knowing the gender of the baby.

Douroucouli are the world’s only nocturnal monkeys and live in the Park’s Twilight Cave with their neighbours - free-flying Seba’s short-tailed bats and Rodrigues fruit bats.