New baby capuchin steals hearts at Newquay Zoo

This month, keepers at Newquay Zoo were delighted by the birth of a baby white-throated capuchin monkey. The infant was born overnight between Monday 6 March and Tuesday 7 March.

Newquay Zoo is home to a family of capuchins: mum Irazu, dad Zaito and their offspring Baru and Diego, who were born in 2019 and 2021 respectively. The newest addition is a great success for the species, who are classed as vulnerable in the wild due to hunting and habitat loss.

Native to Central and South America, white-throated capuchins are among the most intelligent of the New World monkeys with a known ability to fashion tools. They are opportunistic feeders, feasting on fruits and nuts as well as small invertebrates and squirrels, rats, lizards and birds.

Staff at Newquay Zoo were delighted by their new arrival. Dave Rich, Keeper Team Leader, said: “Coming into work to a new-born capuchin was certainly an exciting time for all of us.

Irazu is an experienced mum, and she and baby are doing well already. The baby will spend all of its time on mum for the next few months, and then once it starts exploring on its own we’ll be able to find out its sex and name it.”

The baby capuchin is not the only new arrival, as Newquay Zoo has recently become home to two West African crowned cranes, along with a critically endangered big-headed turtle.