\n Born at Drusillas Park in Sussex, the white-faced saki monkey arrived on May 17 to first-time parents Twiggy and Pires.\n<\/p>\n
\n The infant is the fourth generation of her family to be born at the park.\n<\/p>\n
\n The family line traces back more than 25 years to her great-grandmother Requena, who arrived at Drusillas in 2000.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mark Kenward, zoo manager at Drusillas Park, said: “They are just the loveliest monkeys. They’re so polite and a little less crazy than some of the other primates we work with.\n<\/p>\n
\n “They’re incredibly gentle animals. Twiggy is an excellent mum. She and Pires are both first-time parents, but it has all come so naturally to them.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Pires is very attentive to both Twiggy and the baby, and it’s been wonderful to watch them settle into family life together. This birth is a lovely reminder of the long-term commitment zoos make to conservation.\n<\/p>\n
\n “To see four generations of the same family thriving here at Drusillas is incredibly rewarding. Requena started it all 26 years ago, and now we’re watching her great-grandchild grow up. That’s really special.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Requena gave birth to Suri in 2007, who later became mother to Twiggy in 2019.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now, at seven years old, Twiggy has given birth to the newest arrival.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Kenward, who has worked at Drusillas for more than 28 years, has cared for every generation of the saki family since Requena first arrived at the park in Alfriston.\n<\/p>\n
\n The newest arrival is part of a busy year of births at Drusillas, which has also welcomed ring-tailed lemurs, a Goeldi’s monkey, prairie dog pups, a black Colombian spider monkey, dwarf mongoose pups and binturong twins.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pires, the infant\u2019s father, arrived at Drusillas in 2024 from Marwell Zoo as part of the European breeding programme for the species.\n<\/p>\n
\n Keepers report that Twiggy is a calm and confident mother, and both she and her baby are doing well.\n<\/p>\n
\n White-faced saki monkeys are known for their dramatic sexual dimorphism. Males and females look completely different as adults.\n<\/p>\n
\n At birth, both sexes resemble their mothers with brown-grey fur.\n<\/p>\n
\n As males mature, they develop a black coat and a distinctive white face, while females keep the same colouring as their mothers.\n<\/p>\n
\n This difference is so pronounced that early naturalists once thought they were two separate species.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another unusual trait of white-faced saki monkeys is how they carry their young.\n<\/p>\n
\n Unlike other primates that carry infants on their belly, back or neck, saki mothers hold their babies on their hip in the early weeks.\n<\/p>\n
\n This behaviour is more commonly seen in humans.\n<\/p>\n
\n As the young monkeys grow, they eventually move to their mother\u2019s back.\n<\/p>\n
\n The species is native to the tropical forests of northern South America, including Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Venezuela.\n<\/p>\n
\n They spend nearly their entire lives in the rainforest canopy, feeding on fruit, seeds, nuts and insects.\n<\/p>\n
\n Although currently listed as ‘least concern’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), white-faced sakis face threats from habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade.\n<\/p>\n
\n Modern zoos are essential for maintaining healthy, genetically diverse populations and educating the public about the conservation challenges these animals face.\n<\/p>\n
\n Drusillas Park is open daily from 10am.\n<\/p>\n
\n For more information, call 01323 874100 or visit www.drusillas.co.uk.\n<\/p>\n
\n Visitors to Drusillas may spot the young monkey clinging closely to Twiggy as the family explores their enclosure.\n<\/p>\n
\n The baby is becoming more curious each day but will stay close to its mother for several months.\n<\/p>\n
\n Animal lovers are invited to help choose a name for the youngster via Drusillas\u2019 social media channels. One of the options is ‘Requena’, in honour of its great-grandmother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Born at Drusillas Park in Sussex, the white-faced saki monkey arrived on May 17 to first-time parents Twiggy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-661840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}