Baby Monkey Update: Babysitting commences!
Last month we confirmed the arrival of SIX baby Barbary macaques!
Baby monkey season is such an amazing time of year as we get to see some beautiful natural behaviours exhibited by our Barbary macaques as well as welcome some adorable additions to our monkey sanctuary.
A lovely, wholesome behaviour that we are already seeing throughout the forest is ‘Baby Sitting’. A firm favourite amongst the guides during the late spring and early summer.
Males carry, groom and protect babies sometimes from the first day of their lives, which is quite rare in primates. Males use babies as a social mediator to make friendly contact with other males within the group.
A male borrows a baby monkey from its mother and carries it to another male. The two males sit together and establish a friendly contact through the baby. This helps to create and reinforce friendships.
Next time you’re in the forest, try and spot two males teeth chattering to one another with a baby in-between them – it is absolutely ADORABLE!
Monkey Forest is strongly committed to the protection of the species by:
- Raising public awareness for the need to protect this endangered species by giving people the opportunity to observe the Barbary macaques in a setting very similar to their natural habitat
- Developing educational information in order to help engage our visitors
- Working with organisations to help protect wild Barbary macaques, such as Barbary macaque Awareness and Conservation (BMAC) * Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB) *
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