Mini-Monkeys Dive into Christmas Stockings!
15th December 2011
A colony of marmoset monkeys at Longleat Safari & Adventure Park are getting in to the festive spirit with their very own Christmas Stockings.
The ten-strong group of miniature South American primates woke one morning to find their open enclosure bedecked with Christmas decorations.
Naturally inquisitive, it didn’t take dominant male Campo and female Corumba long to pluck up enough courage to see what gifts were inside the stockings.
“We put a variety of tasty treats inside the stocking including nuts, bugs and pieces of fruit first thing in the morning and then hang them around their enclosure for them to find,” said Keeper Darren Beasley.
"As well as adding a festive feel to Monkey Temple the stockings also enable us to stimulate the marmosets natural foraging behaviour,” he added.
Common marmosets live in social family groups and have a strict hierarchy ranking. Young and old adults share in the care of the young, unusually for primates the female nearly always gives birth to non-identical twins which the male then carries on his back.
It’s not just the monkeys who are benefiting from the goodwill though as keepers are providing treats for all the other animals too including porridge for the parrots and hot potatoes for the rhesus monkeys.
The Christmas animal treats are part of a series of special activities taking place at the Wiltshire attraction in the coming weeks.
This year is the first time that Longleat Safari & Adventure Park has been open throughout the festive season.
Running until January 2nd ‘Christmas at Longleat’ features a real Ice Rink set against the backdrop of Longleat House, the UK’s largest Singing Christmas Tree, Santa Trains and Christmas-themed House Tours with Cinderella, Ebenezer Scrooge, Sleeping Beauty and other fairytale characters.