First orange monkey is born in Australia

Anyone with a passion for primates should take holidays to Sydney in order to see Taronga Zoo’s newest arrival.

Anyone with a passion for primates should take holidays to Sydney in order to see Taronga Zoo’s newest arrival.

Elke, a tiny Francois Langur monkey, was rejected by her mother and has had to be hand reared by keepers at the conservation centre.

She is the first monkey of this kind to be born in Australia and is small enough to fit in the palms of her surrogate mothers.

It is hoped that Elke will be returned to the wild in a few months, after she has grown stronger and is able to fend for herself.

Francois Langur monkeys are indigenous from south-western China to north-eastern Vietnam. Although they are born orange, their fur turns black as they grow up.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, there may be as few as 500 left in the wild in Vietnam and only up to 1,650 left in China.