Double Trouble at Drusillas Park
Last week Drusillas Park announced the exciting news that twin baby common marmosets had been born. Now these tiny bundles of mischief are starting to explore, play and jump about on their own, Zoo Keepers want to give the double act some suitable names.
Drusillas is launching a competition at 8pm tomorrow (Thursday 28th September) to name the cheeky little monkeys. The twins are inseparable so the zoo wants to give them names that pair up well together, e.g. Gin & Fizz, Caramel & Toffee, Fortune & Cookie and so on.
All name suggestions must be gender neutral as the monkeys are too young to sex at the moment, so keepers won’t be able to determine their gender for quite some time. Anyone who wants to be in with a chance of winning should go to the Drusillas Facebook Page for details of how to enter https://www.facebook.com/drusillaspark/ . The competition will be closing on Thursday 5th October 2017.
Common marmosets have always been a popular attraction at the zoo and the two tiny fluff balls have been delighting visitors and making excellent progress.
Parents Jasmine and Abu, who welcomed the twins at the end of last month, have been keeping their youngsters very closely guarded for the first few weeks. They have now started to show their little ones off; proudly parading them around on their backs. The adorable duo can be easily spotted as they explore their new surroundings.
Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate commented: “We are absolutely delighted with the new arrivals. Our visitors really love to see the baby monkeys playing with their parents, when they get the opportunity.”
The common marmoset is one of the smallest species of monkeys; their name literally translating into English as dwarf! The tiny chaps usually weigh up to 1 pound for males and even less for females, so their babies are really very small indeed.
In the wild, common marmosets are only found in tropical rainforests and secondary forests in north-east Brazil. They have long been a favourite at Drusillas so revellers to the zoo have been delighted by the antics of two tiny additions.