PREVIEW

Conservationists at Chester Zoo are joyfully marking the birth of a critically endangered Coquerel’s sifaka lemur. The newborn, weighing approximately 120g, is the offspring of 11-year-old Beatrice and 10-year-old Elliot, following a five-month pregnancy. Initial images capture the bright-eyed baby bonding with its mother, clinging tightly to her fur as they navigate from tree to tree. Primate experts anticipate that, at around three months old, the infant will commence solo exploration, revealing its gender at that time. Known as the 'dancing lemur,' Coquerel’s sifakas exhibit a unique upright stance, utilising powerful legs to spring side to side along the ground and leaping over 20ft through treetops in a single bound. It is, however, restricted to small areas of Madagascar, and its numbers may have fallen into the tens of thousands due to habitat loss. In the wild the Coquerel’s sifaka population has declined by 80% in the last 30 years due to widespread habitat loss across the island of Madagascar.