This incredible photo of a young Qinling golden snub-nosed monkey is one of the winners in this year’s Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
The species is endangered with an estimated less than 4,000 left. The huddled up pose is the best way for the monkey to keep warm in the extreme cold when not near its mother.
An exhibition with all the winning photos opens at the Natural History Museum from tomorrow before going on tour.
Photo : Cyril Ruoso
Photographer David Slater encountered a bit of monkey business in a national park in Indonesia…these photos aren’t his, but some crested black macaques’ masterpieces. Despite not having had much human contact before, the monkeys were very interested in all their equipment. One day after David left his tripod set up…he returned to find a curious monkey playing with it. David thinks the noise of the shutter kept the monkeys interested and in the end they took hundreds of pictures!
Photo : David J Slater/Caters News Agency
Sad news…Mjukuu’s baby mountain gorilla has died. The little infant had been introduced to the male silverback Kesho and the rest of the group successfully. But during the second time, a scuffle broke out and the young gorilla was injured and could not be saved. Gorillas, like most primates, have complex social structures and as Kesho was not related to the young gorilla, it was particularly difficult.
Brilliant news, Twycross Zoo are celebrating the birth of a baby Western Lowland Gorilla, notoriously hard to breed in captivity. The little one is about two weeks old and so keepers haven’t been able to determine its sex yet. This is especially good news as the species is critically endangered in the wild, with only 100,000 left.
These Caribbean monkeys have been studied as they steal alcoholic drinks from people on the beach…and show just how similar they are to humans!
They found the monkeys divided into groups; social drinkers, regular drinkers, binge drinkers and teetotalers which seems to suggest that alcoholism isn’t just a human trait. Research suggests alcoholism may be genetic but as it is currently only narrowed down to around 300 genes, it may still be a long time before we discover specific genes.
Three-month old Tiny has been filmed taking his first tentative steps around his home at London Zoo. Mum, Mjukuu, gently encouraged him to leave her side and explore the area while the rest of the troop watched his progress.
Considering Tiny could grow to over 6ft and weigh 200kg, keepers are considering thinking of a more suitable permanent name!
Here’s a habit I hope we don’t inherit from our monkey cousins…capuchin monkeys have been seen urinating on their hands then rubbing this into their fur. The scent from the urine is used by the males to signal to any females that they are available for mating. Scientists tested females’ reactions to both available adult males and juvenile males and found that they responded more positively to the adult and much more suitable mate.
The older the male monkey is, the more testosterone he produces in his urine…but also the higher up in the group’s pecking order he is, the more testosterone he produces, so it seems the males use this scent to indicate their status too.
The beginning of the year brings in the chance to do the annual stock take…but for London Zoo that means counting their thousands of animals including these curious spider monkeys. There’s 700 different species and over 16,000 animals in Regent’s Park (with my favourites, the bunch of cheeky otters – see photos!)
Photo : AP
Ever thought ‘a trained monkey could do that’? The Commonwealth games organisers in Delhi have been using trained langur monkeys as guards for the games. Recent floods have attracted a host of animals into the city, including danergous cobra snakes and mischevious food-stealing monkeys. Langur monkeys are known for their intelligence and aggression and their territorial behaviour is proving useful in deterring other animals from disrupting the games.
Photo : AP
Bonobo monkeys have been filmed apparently saying ‘no’ by shaking their heads from side to side, mimicking human behaviour. A mother bonobo at Leipzig Zoo was seen shaking her head in a disapproving way to an infant playing with food. Monkeys have already been observed using head gestures for communication but this is the first time it has been seen used for a ‘negative’ command.
