One of the newest arrivals at Howletts Wild Animal Park, near Bekesbourne, is this baby grizzled leaf monkey

by Adam Williams

This tiny, wide-eyed bundle sitting with its parents is one of the newest arrivals at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Bekesbourne.

The baby grizzled leaf monkey, whose sex is still unknown, was born to parents Sianak and Mojang earlier this month.

Grizzled leaf monkeys are a critically endangered species, only native to the island of Java in Indonesia.

Sianak and Mojang are Howletts one of four breeding pairs with a total of 16 monkeys.

Mojang, aged eight, gave birth to Jojo in 2007 and is considered vital to the breeding project, as she is the only female born at Howletts to have given birth herself.

She lives in a group with four other animals, excluding the new baby.

Head of primates, Matt Ford, says the species have been at the park for over a decade.

He said: “We’ve kept these animals since July 1998, when they arrived from Bandung Zoo in Java.

“Howletts was the first place outside of Java to give them a home and more importantly, the first successful captive birth of this species was to Mojang in 1999 right here.”

Visitors to Howletts can see the grizzled leaf monkeys along the woodland walk between the elephant house and the pavilion.