while holding her newborn baby at New Plymouth's Brooklands Zoo.
The latest addition to New Plymouth's Brooklands Zoo is a newborn capuchin monkey.
The baby was born two weeks ago, and zoo staff says its mother, Dixie, is being very nurturing and protective – which is just as well considering another capuchin, Dolly, who has a history of taking newborns from their mothers, is on the scene.
"It's still reasonably early days for the baby, but Dixie has been feeding it and keeping Dolly away, so we're confident about its chances for survival," the zoo's technical officer Eve Cozzi said.
Dixie is one of the females transferred to New Plymouth from Hamilton Zoo last year as part of an international breeding programme for the capuchin monkey.
The baby's father is Boo, born at Brooklands Zoo eight years ago.
"The purpose of transferring capuchins between Brooklands and Hamilton was to add to the international population with a wider genetic group. This baby is the start of a breeding programme that will benefit the captive capuchin population long-term," Ms Cozzi said.
Once the gender of the baby is known, the zoo will hold a competition for the public to name the new capuchin. Photo: MARK DWYER
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