'Delight' at baby monkey's birth

Vale spent the first weeks of life clinging to its father's back

The first monkey to be born in London Zoo's indoor rainforest zone has been revealed to visitors.

Zookeepers do not yet know if the baby is male or female, but named it Vale to mark St Valentine's Day.

The South American red titi monkey was born to mother Yara and father Thiago last month.

Staff at the zoo said the baby's parents were so devoted to each other that they regularly slept with their tails entwined.

Vale spent the first weeks of life clinging to its father's back, but has now started to make short journeys alone, they said.

Zoological director David Field said: "This birth proves that Clore Rainforest Lookout really is a great enclosure for the animals, allowing them to behave and breed naturally.

"We are all delighted to see Vale zipping around the indoor forest on Thiago's back."

The titi monkeys live in the rainforest biome with silvery marmosets, sloths, tortoises, golden-headed lion tamarins, pygmy marmosets, sun bitterns, and other exotic birds.