Baby monkey born at ZooDoo in Hobart inseparable from mum

BOY or girl, we’re not sure, and this baby capuchin monkey refuses to leave his mum’s side to let people take a closer look.

A mother capuchin monkey with its baby born at ZooDoo in Richmond recently. Picture: KIM EISZELE

BOY or girl, we’re not sure, and this baby capuchin monkey refuses to leave his mum’s side to let people take a closer look.

Staff at ZooDoo Wildlife Park, near Richmond, welcomed the baby black capped capuchin into its animal family about two weeks ago.

The baby and its mother have been inseparable since, and zoo keepers are yet to identify the sex of the monkey or give it a name.

“It’s been on mum’s back the whole time,” ZooDoo general manager Donna Cuttriss-Smith said.

“We don’t want to stress out the mother and the baby ... [or] upset the relationship, as she is a first-time mum.”

The species is native to the Amazon Basin and South America and Ms Cuttriss-Smith said it was instinctual for the baby to latch on to its mother because they were always moving in the wild.

The zoo will wait about a month before approaching the mum and is calling on the public to suggest unisex names for the baby, with keepers to make the final decision from those submitted. The successful name provider can collect a free pass to ZooDoo.

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Originally published as Baby monkey born at ZooDoo in Hobart inseparable from mum