by Alex Claridge

Keepers at Howletts wild animal park are hand-rearing a breed of monkeys which are the first to have ever been born in the UK.

A male infant Hecks Macaque called Nantu is now four months old and was born to father Cimot and mother Ully at the park in Bekesbourne near Cantebury.

But as Nantu was born by Caesarean, Ully did not develop proper maternal instincts and keepers decided to hand-rear him.

Howletts primate Keeper Liam Shepheard said:“To my knowledge Hecks Macaques have never been bred outside of their native Indonesia, so raising him was a steep learning curve and far from ideal.

“but we felt it was important to give him a chance because he is unique.”

The hand rearing process involved Liam bringing Nantu into his own home, and taking it in turns with other keepers to wake up and feed him every two hours throughout the night.

During the day Nantu was kept in a special glass fronted, heated enclosure so that he could see and be seen by Cimot and Ully so they could become accustomed to one another.