Colchester Zoo has shared some adorable photos of its mandrill monkey Mindy and her newborn baby boy.
Mindy the mandrill became a mum for the second time on October 31, 2020, welcoming a younger brother for her son Miroku.
Gismo, the zoo’s dominant male, is dad to the new arrival and just like him this baby will grow up to have a red nose, blue and purple ridges, red lips, a gold beard and a red rump. These fantastic colours are what make these monkeys the most colourful mammal in the world.
Mindy went through a gestation period of 180 days with the infant weighing less than a kilogram when born before clinging on tight to mum’s underbelly for the first few weeks of its life.
Mandrills are very social and live within groups known as a horde or troop, they are also the largest monkey in the world.
Sadly, the species is currently listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and so this new arrival is great news for the conservation of its species, not just for Colchester Zoo.
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