PREVIEW

A family from one of the world's most endangered primate species has settled into their new home at Chester Zoo. Staff welcomed the four rare and “incredibly special” Roloway monkeys to the zoo for the first time since 1974. The quartet will form a key part of an international conservation breeding programme that’s working to safeguard the species. Once found in the lush forests of West Africa, Roloway monkeys have been propelled to the very brink of extinction in the last 30 years. Habitat loss, driven by deforestation and agricultural expansion in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, along with poaching for their fur and meat, has seen them almost disappear altogether. As a result, there are just a few hundred remaining on the planet. The monkeys are now inside the top 20 of the world’s most endangered primates and conservationists at the zoo say they will do “everything possible” to ensure the species survives for future generations. The family of four, made up of mum Masaya and dad Grizu, along with their two young sons Anum and Ilo, have settled in nicely and can now be seen exploring the treetops in their new home.