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[Carrie McLaren <temporary181 AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Baby Monkey Born At Alligator Farm

See video and photo here:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/player.aspx?aid=105641&bw=

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- The newest addition at The Alligator Farm in St. 
Augustine weighs only 24 grams. The baby monkey was born Thursday 
morning.


The baby can fit in a human hand. It's a Geoffroy 's Marmoset. It's a 
rare monkey from South America. The squirrel-sized monkey species is 
classified as vulnerable, according to The Alligator Farm.

A national coordinator for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association 
tapped The Alligator Farm to breed its pair of Geoffroy's Marmosets 
this year.

Amanda Whitaker, the Bird and Mammal Curator at the park, said, 
"These particular monkeys need to breed so their genetics are out 
there. They are vulnerable because of habitat destruction."

Whitaker said the marmoset pair had two males in January. Thursday 
another male was born. He was one of triplets. However, even after an 
emergency c-section, only one baby out of three survived.

Still, there is excitement at the park... and inside the baby's own family.

The father and brothers ran to the mother and baby when the couple 
was brought inside the family's cage.

The father and brothers will help raise the little baby, Whitaker 
said. In fact, two weeks after the birth, the father will become the 
primary caregiver, she said.

Whitaker says the park has been asked to breed this pair three times. 
So she expects more little ones in the next year or so.