Cork's Fota Wildlife Park welcomes rare baby François' langur monkey

The newborn primate is the third offspring of Mei and forms part of an international endangered species breeding programme

A bright orange baby François' langur has become the latest addition to Fota Wildlife Park in Cork.

The infant was born on June 8 to mother Mei and father Shinobi, making it the youngest of Mei's three offspring. Her oldest, Tang, was the first François' langur to be born at Fota, in 2023.

There are now seven François' langurs at the park.

"Mei was transferred from Twycross Zoo in the UK in 2022 and Shinobi came from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, also in the UK, as part of the ex-situ endangered breeding programme for the François' langur species," Fota Wildlife Park said in a post on its Facebook page.

"The newest member of the troop is becoming more adventurous each day, beginning to explore a little further away from its mother while still staying safely close to the group. Siblings Tang and Sheng are already playing an important role in caring for their new sibling. 

"This behaviour, known as 'allomothering', is common among François' langurs, where females within the group help to nurture and raise the young."