Rare lion-tailed monkey born in Fota Wildlife Park for the first time in 4 years

Fota Wildlife Park announced that they welcomed its newest family member last month.

A cute baby macaque arrived on the 23 July under the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). New mother Tish, who was also born in Fota Wildlife Park, is one of the leading females in the troop of monkeys. This is the 11-year-old's second baby. Father Mauzer is a first-time dad. He was born in 2011 in Belfast Zoo and moved to the Cork based park in 2015. Understandably, the mum of two is being very protective of her baby. The rangers at Fota have not been able to get up close and personal with the new rare mammal so don't know whether its a boy or a girl yet. Lead Ranger at the wildlife park Teresa Power said:

"It has been a while since a Lion-tailed macaque birth, so we really are thrilled at the arrival of this new baby." "Fota has a long and very successful history with this endangered species, as they are known to be difficult to keep and breed." "The Lion-tailed macaque breeding group at Fota is considered one of the most successful in Europe with over 40 born here so far." "This troop is of critical importance to the international breeding programmes given how rare the species are becoming in the wild."

Even though they don't know the sex of the monkey, Fota Wildlife Park is asking the public to name the little cutie. Anyone that suggests a name is in with the chance of winning a Conservation Membership for a year at the park in Cork.