A TINY baby mongoose lemur is pulling at the heartstrings of visitors to Colchester Zoo.The baby was born last month following an extensive search backed by the Endangered Species Breeding Programme to find a male lemur to breed with the female at Colchester Zoo.

A TINY baby mongoose lemur is pulling at the heartstrings of visitors to Colchester Zoo.

The baby was born last month following an extensive search backed by the Endangered Species Breeding Programme to find a male lemur to breed with the female at Colchester Zoo.

Marketing director for Colchester Zoo, Alex Burr, said: "We are really excited about the new arrival, visitors to the zoo have rushed to see the baby lemur and are surprised at how small it is clinging to its mother's chest while she runs round."

The mongoose lemur is originally from north western Madagascar and current trends suggest that the species will face extinction within the next 100 years unless the it is sustained through breeding programmes. The decline is the loss of its forest habitat because of logging and agriculture.

Miss Burr said: "All of the zoos in Europe work together to breed endangered species, between us we co-ordinate when it is the right time to breed and organising the transfer of mates between one zoo and another."

The red panda returns to the zoo this year after the previous pair died last year. The new additions, brothers Rosco and Rondo have moved to Colchester from Dublin Zoo. The search is now on to find a female to keep them company.

"We are still looking for the ideal mate for one of the males, again we are looking all over Europe. Once we find the perfect match we will organise breeding possibilities that will help maintain the species," said Miss Burr.

The red panda is originally from the Himalayas and is recognised as a smaller relative of the giant panda. They spend most of their time tree climbing when they are not foraging for food.

"They are very friendly but because they are not yet used to their surroundings they can be a bit nervous."

Following the birth of Kito, the first baby elephant in Europe to be conceived through artificial insemination, a similar fertilisation process is now being carried out in Germany.

Experts from Berlin are again using Tembo from Colchester Zoo to impregnate a female elephant at Dresden Zoo. Kito is nearly six months old and the weight of two average adult men.