New Species at the Zoo!
September 22, 2017
As well as receiving lots of amazing, new LEGO brick animals over the summer, we are delighted to have welcomed some new furry friends to the collection too!
If you like our meerkats and mongoose then you’ll love our brand new species, the cusimanse (Crossarchus obscurus). Four of these small mammals (two males and two females) recently arrived from Newquay Zoo in Cornwall. These fascinating animals are typically found in the rainforests of southwest and southeast Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. They enjoy a varied diet including snails, insects, spiders, small reptiles, birds, eggs, small mammals, and fruits. You will find the active and highly social group on the back lawn, behind Marwell Hall.
Pygmy Marmosets
This summer also saw the arrival of the world’s smallest monkey– a group of pygmy marmosets (cebuella pygmaea).
Found in the Amazon, these tiny primates have an incredibly varied diet that ranges from invertebrates to nectar. They are also most active during the day- see them in action in the exhibit opposite our fossa, before they head to the new Tropical House when it opens in 2018.
Squirrel Monkeys
A slightly bigger group of primates also joined us recently, with the addition of some super Guianan squirrel monkeys (saimiri sciureus sciureus). Like the pygmy marmosets, they are found in the Amazon and can live in groups of up to 50. Their diet in the wild includes insects, fruit, flowers and nectar. Find them next to our red ruffed lemurs in Life in the Trees.
