Pictures: East Sussex zoo celebrates baby boom following the birth of nine adorable newborns

Drusillas Park near Alfriston is celebrating a boom of adorable ‘zoo borns’ in recent months following the healthy arrival of nine new animals.

Born within a few days of each other, on June 24, 25 and 30, three tiny squirrel monkeys can be seen sweetly clinging to their mother’s backs and peering out at visitors. Keepers have chosen to name them Mateo, Lucia and Rafael in a nod to their native Bolivia,.

The zoo’s most experienced mother, meerkat Tamu, welcomed another little one on May 24 – which was named Reggie by the park’s followers. Reggie joins 18 siblings in the zoo’s meerkat mob and has already been gaining fans online and confidently meeting visitors taking part in close encounter experiences.

On April 26 twin silvery marmoset babies arrived, who the public chose to name Luna and Alba via the park’s social media channels.

Winning hearts with his cheeky ways, baby colobus monkey Pedro – named after one of the zoo’s longstanding keepers - was born on April 8 and can often be seen play fighting with and swinging from the tails of his siblings Kylo, Domino, Arlo, Romeo and Yoyo.

At the end of February the zoo also welcomed two dwarf mongoose pups. Phoenix and Halo were named in keeping with a Top Gun theme and the pair is delighting visitors with their playful and silly nature. Phoenix and Halo’s older sibling Maverick was the first of the species born at the zoo in October last year.

Head keeper Gemma Romanis said: “It’s one of the best parts of our jobs seeing successful births, especially when we have firsts for our team like the arrival of our dwarf mongoose pups. Our squirrel monkey mamas were also born here at the zoo themselves, so it’s a really special feeling to see babies you have raised having babies themselves, we feel like grandparents! It’s possible we will have more new arrivals in the not-so-distant future too, so I have my fingers firmly crossed for the pitter patter of more paws and claws.”

READ THIS:

Emergency service crews called to incident on Brighton Pier

Brighton-linked £30m ace finalising Newcastle switch as Southampton prepare for double exit

New bar to open in Eastbourne town centre – ‘There is nowhere like it in East or West Sussex’