‘Good things come in threes’
NEW ARRIVALS WELCOMED TO COUNTY ZOO
LEADING conservation charity Twycross Zoo has proudly announced the arrival of three new babies, who were all born in the same week.
The saying “good things come in threes” came to fruition at the county zoo, as it welcomed a Diana monkey and a dusky leaf monkey, both of which are classed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, as well as another very cute Kirk’s Dik-Dik.
The new additions are contributing to the preservation of these precious species and are testament to the hard-working team at the zoo, although a special thank you has gone out to the general public who were paramount in supporting the 100-acre zoo through a very difficult year.
Neil Dorman, curator of Twycross Zoo, said: “In what has been a such a challenging year, the arrival of these three species are just another reminder of why we
do what we do. We have such an amazing team here who work tirelessly in order to help us continue our award-winning conservation work, but this year, in particular, we have to say our biggest thank you ever to our wonderful customers and the public for supporting our charity in 2020.”
The two new monkeys are classed as endangered with numbers dramatically decreasing in the wild.
Dusky leaf monkeys are old world monkeys, a term describing monkeys from Africa and Asia.
They have large white coloured circles around their eyes which give an appearance of a spectacle, and this is actually where they got their second name, the Spectacled Langur.
As dusky leaf monkeys are arboreal, in the wild they prefer dwelling on tall trees in dense forests.
These monkeys prefer various other habitats which include the coastal forests, by rivers, urban forests, botanical gardens and parks.
Diana monkeys, also known as Diana guenons, have distinct markings with a white brow, cheeks, beard and front with diagonal stripes across the rear legs.
The rest of the fur is a grey-black colour with a red rump and thighs. They have a long slender tail reaching lengths of up to 75cm.
They are named after the Roman goddess Diana as their crescentshaped brow markings are said to resemble the bow Diana carried.
In the wild, Diana monkeys live in large groups of up to 30 individuals. This is made up of a single male with around 10 females and their offspring.
The third and final arrival is the second Kirk’s Dik-Dik to be born at the zoo this year, following the arrival of George, named after George Eliot Hospital during lockdown, in homage to the keyworkers.
The species is a small antelope species from east Africa. They are a fawn colour, which is excellent camouflage in their savannah habitat. Males have stout horns often hidden by tufts of fur. They have a very high metabolic rate, which means they must eat a high amount of vegetation relative to their size.
All three new arrivals are doing well and visitors will be able to say hello to them throughout December. For further information about Twycross Zoo and to book tickets, please visit:
We have to say our biggest thank you ever to our wonderful customers and the public
Neil Dorman