Visitors witness surprise arrival of endangered spider monkey at Dudley Zoo
Visitors were in for a surprise at Dudley Zoo when one of the attraction's spider monkeys gave birth.
Evita, a 16-year-old black Columbian spider monkey, gave birth in the outside paddock in front of stunned onlookers on Friday – one of the hottest and busiest days on site.
The new arrival is the first to be born at the zoo in four decades.
Zoo curator Richard Brown said: “This is incredibly exciting news for the zoo to celebrate the birth of such a rare primate species.
“Animals usually give birth in the quiet of the night and we’d prepared for the impending arrival by setting up cameras in the indoor den and made alterations to the off-show area, in case we needed to separate the group, but Evita decided to surprise us all with an outdoor birth in the hot midday sunshine, with visitors alerting keepers to the event.”
Evita and baby are doing well, and living together as a natural family unit with 15-year-old dad, Chester, and fellow adults Valentine and Charlie.
Richard added: “For a first-time mum, Evita is being really attentive and the baby, who is yet unnamed or sexed, looks to be thriving.
“Mum will exclusively carry her newborn for the next few months, first on her stomach and then on her lower back, with the baby tightly wrapping its tiny tail around Evita and gripping her midsection with her hands.”
