Rare monkey born in rescue centre

The first golden-cheeked baby to be born at the park is called Tien and the as- yet -unnamed baby is the second golden-cheeked gibbon to be born at the rescue centre and third gibbon infant overall. He has delighted staff at Monkey World, in Bovington, Dorset. The baby is being looked after by his mother, Zoey, who came to Monkey World from the Pingtung rescue centre, in Taiwan. He is feeding well.

The baby gibbon's father Jake came to Monkey World from Los Angeles Zoo, as part of a European breeding programme for the endangered species.

Wendy Derham, who is gibbon team leader at Monkey World, said that the new baby is the third gibbon to be born at Monkey World and she was very pleased with the progress the new baby is making. Monkey World is home to the largest number of golden-cheeked gibbons outside Asia. In the wild, golden-cheeked gibbons live in small family groups. Golden-cheeked gibbons can be found in Southern Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, in tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen rainforests. They are highly endangered, largely due to deforestation, hunting and trapping for the pet trade.

The rescue centre has assisted the governments of Britain, the Russian Federation, France and Taiwan to help prevent the illegal smuggling of this species.