Baboon baby boom at Kent wildlife park
Breeders at a wildlife park in Kent are celebrating the success of a baboon breeding programme following the birth of two baby apes and the imminent arrival of five more.
The “near threatened” Guinea baboons, which originate from west Africa, have only been resident at the Port Lympne park for five years and a spokesman said staff were “delighted” by the births, the BBC reported.
The park had 25 baboons prior to the new arrivals and primate keeper Simon Jeffery said the colourful creatures were very popular with visitors. In 2008 they were moved to an improved enclosure.
Baby baboons cling to their mother’s stomach for up to three months after their birth and then ride on her back.
Many of the baboons at Port Lympne arrived from a Paris zoo in 2005, forcing zookeepers to learn French in order to communicate with the apes.
“If we speak English to them they just look completely bemused and don’t have a clue what is going on,” a zookeeper said at the time.
“The keepers use basic things like dejeuner when it’s lunchtime and they all come running. Then there’s things like bonjour which they respond well to… I expect we’ll just have to carry on speaking French to them forever.”
Earlier this month Port Lympne also celebrated the birth of a baby gorilla.