Birth of rare lemur celebrated by wildlife park

One of the world's rarest benignant of lemurs has been successfully bred successful Oxfordshire.

The as-yet-unsexed and unnamed carnal was calved to parents Raphael and Bijou astatine Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Births of the greater bamboo lemur successful captivity are highly rare, and the parkland is the lone zoological postulation successful the UK - and 1 of 2 worldwide - to person bred the taxon this year.

Only 36 greater bamboo lemurs are successful captivity globally and they are classified arsenic critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Both parents are portion of a European Breeding Programme and this is the 4th twelvemonth moving the parkland has managed to breed these primates.

Jamie Craig, wide manager of Cotswold Wildlife Park, said: "Lemur taxon successful Madagascar are nether tremendous unit from situation demolition and the rapidly rising quality population.

"It is captious that we rise consciousness for this unsocial radical of primates earlier it is excessively late.

"At Cotswold Wildlife Park, we are committed to conserving this taxon and we money an highly important tract successful Madagascar, arsenic good arsenic participating successful respective different conservation projects with the Cotswold Wildlife Park Conservation Trust.

"We are highly privileged to support some of these taxon astatine the parkland - they are highly uncommon successful captivity and they are fantastic ambassadors for our fundraising efforts"