Hiccupping monkey to return home

Sokojoo was born at the end of December

A hiccupping baby monkey who was rejected by her mother is nearly ready to return to her zoo enclosure.

Sokojoo, a tiny colobus monkey, had to be bottle-fed by staff at Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, when her mother started sitting on her.

A special area has been built for her in the main colobus enclosure so she can get used to the adult monkeys.

Zoo staff plan to place her in it next week and it is hoped she will then join the main group in a few months.

'Sounds and smells'

Sokojoo was born at the end of December, and her name means hiccup in the Mandinka language of The Gambia - her natural habitat.

The name was chosen because the monkey, who is just 9in (23cm) tall and weighs less than 2lb (907g), hiccups after she is fed.

She has just started to eat solid food, which means she is nearly ready to be placed in the special enclosure.

Sokojoo weighs less than 2lb

She mostly tucks into leaves as well as fruit and flowers.

Stewart Muir, director of Newquay Zoo, said: "We will place Sokojoo into a small enclosure within the main colobus enclosure so that she can get used to the sights, sounds and smells of the adult colobus and they can get used to her.

"We really want to get this done as soon as possible so that the baby does not get too imprinted by us and becomes a fully functioning member of our colobus family."

The zoo is home to two female adults; Sierra (who is Sokojoo's mother) and Woodruff, as well as an adult male called Martin.