Squirrel monkey Bounty fathers a football team
Wednesday 17 August 2011
He only arrived at ZSL London Zoo three years ago, but male squirrel monkey Bounty has already fathered enough monkeys to form a football team – just in time for the start of the season.
© ZSL
The bright yellow Bolivian squirrel monkey, who also lives with 10 adult females monkeys, certainly has a team who would stand out on a football pitch thanks to the arrival of his 11th offspring, Rolo, last month.
Rolo joins his sweet siblings Twix, Flake, Rocky, Snickers, Minstrel, Malteser, Yorkie, Wisper, Kit Kat and Twirl in the Zoo’s ‘Meet the Monkeys’ exhibit.
The playful primates, who live together in their open enclosure are very inquisitive and have been given footballs by zookeepers to stimulate their natural curiosity and to keep them active.
Zookeeper Kate Sanders says: “This year Bounty successfully mated five of the females in the group, making him quite the Casanova – a trait he has in common with some other famous footballers!
“We now have 22 squirrel monkeys at the Zoo in total, after five babies were born this year, but if we have any more it could be time for some transfers.”
