MONKEYS
The monkeys could well be Colchester Zoo’s biggest speciality – certainly, they are the group of mammals most commonly-kept there, with sixteen species currently kept, and at least twenty-six more kept in the past. All five families of Neotropical monkeys have been kept at Colchester at some point (with four kept currently), while among the Afro-Eurasian monkeys the three main subfamilies have all had multiple species kept. Today, the Afro-Eurasian monkeys are the minority of species kept, with just six altogether, but looking back through the zoo’s history they have represented the majority of monkey species kept (twenty-three identified thus far). The one monkey known to definitely be planned for the new zoo is the gelada, identified as getting a new enclosure in the recently-released masterplan.
Past holdings:
Eastern pygmy marmoset,
Cebuella niveiventris
I cannot find exactly when this species first arrived at Colchester Zoo, with the earliest evidence being a zoo map from 1991. The last evidence I can find of this species at Colchester Zoo are several photographs on Flickr, all said to have been taken in 2015. They lived in what is now the indoor golden lion tamarin enclosure, inside the leopard viewing area.
Silvery marmoset,
Mico argentatus
The earliest confirmed evidence I can find for the silvery marmoset is a zoo map from 1998. The last individual left Colchester Zoo in 2014. They have lived in several enclosures, primarily in the Beginning Zone, but the last animals were kept in the Worlds Apart Walkthrough.
White-lipped tamarin,
Saguinus labiatus
A trio of this species, comprising a male and two females, arrived at Colchester from Belfast Zoo in 2006. It is not clear when the species left the collection, although photographs online suggest they may have remained at the zoo until at least 2013. The one enclosure I know they inhabited is the Rainforest Walkthrough
Cottontop tamarin,
Saguinus oedipus
The earliest evidence I can find for cottontop tamarins is from a zoo map from 1994. It was in 2007 when the last cottontop tamarins, a breeding group consisting of five males and one female, left Colchester Zoo for the final time. They lived in a now-demolished enclosure in the space between the red panda and giant anteater enclosures.
Emperor tamarin,
Saguinus imperator
The earliest date I can link to this species is 1994 – a news article from 2007 talking about the birth of a young emperor tamarin mentions that the mother had been at Colchester Zoo for thirteen years. The final animals left Colchester sometime around 2012 to 2013. They lived, at different times, in the Small Mammal House and in the secondary giant anteater enclosure.
Dourocouli,
Aotus sp.
The Story of Colchester Zoo notes that, in 1964, a number of douroucoulis arrived at Colchester Zoo. At the time there was thought to be only a single species, so identifying which species was actually present is basically impossible. It is also not known where in the zoo they lived, or when they left the collection. The 1972 guidebook briefly mentions them, but I do not know if they are referring to animals actually kept in the zoo or if they are included simply as an example of a South American primate.
Tufted capuchin monkey,
Sapajus apella
I do not know when this species arrived at or departed from the collection, or where it was kept, but the 1986 report from International Zoo News mentions that two males of this species were successfully bred sometime between May and August of that year.
Woolly monkey,
Lagothrix lagotricha
It is not known when they arrived at or departed from the collection, but this species is mentioned, in an old issue of the Colchester Express, from around 1966 to 1967 living in the former Monkey House. The 1972 guidebook also mentions the species, with it saying that there were hopes to successfully breed them.
Allen’s swamp monkey,
Allenopithecus nigroviridis
It is not known when this species arrived at or departed from the collection, but the species is labelled on a 1994 map, living in the monkey complex on what is now the spider monkey enclosure.
Talapoin monkey,
Miopithecus sp.
An unidentified species of talapoin monkey was recorded at Colchester Zoo sometime around 1966, with these animals mentioned in the guidebook of that year. They were inhabitants of the old Monkey House.
De Brazza’s guenon,
Cercopithecus neglectus
It is not clear exactly when this species arrived at Colchester Zoo, but a news report suggests some arrived in 1967 for the Monkey House. A successful breeding was recorded sometime in May or August 1986 in the IZN issue of the time. A 1994 map shows them in the old monkey complex where the spider monkeys now live. The last record is from a map for 2003, which shows them living in one of the old bear dens. It can be assumed they left the collection soon after this.
Diana guenon,
Cercopithecus diana
While it is not certain if they had inhabited the zoo earlier, the species is shown on a map dating to around 1984 to 1985. Another pair arrived in 1988 and moved into the first arguably modern enclosure at the zoo. The species remained at Colchester until at least 2005 in that same enclosure, which is now mostly a garden border along the walkway past the wreathed hornbills and red pandas.
Moustached guenon,
Cercopithecus cephus
In The Story of Colchester Zoo, moustached guenons were recorded arriving at Colchester Zoo in 1966, with this corroborated by their presence in the guidebook from that year. These were probably inhabitants of the old Monkey House.
Lesser spot-nosed guenon,
Cercopithecus petaurista
It is not known when this species arrived at or departed from the collection, but they are labelled on a 1994 map, living in one of the cages that would later become known as Hornbill Hill.
Hamlyn’s guenon,
Cercopithecus hamlyni
A singleton of this species is mentioned in a newspaper report as being a resident of the Monkey House in 1967. It is not known if this is when it arrived or departed from the collection.
Syke’s guenon,
Cercopithecus mitis
This species is mentioned in the 1966 yearbook as being a resident of the Monkey House in that year. It is not known if this is when they arrived, or when they departed from the collection.
Patas monkey,
Erythrocebus patas
A zoo map from 1984 to 1985 mentions the upcoming patas monkey enclosure where Heart of the Amazon now stands; I cannot be certain if these monkeys were already at the collection or arrived for this enclosure, nor can I tell if the species was ever kept prior to that year. For a time, Colchester had a large breeding troop of the species, and coordinated the European breeding programme. This species moved in 2002 to Kingdom of the Wild, before briefly moving to the current L’Hoest’s guenon enclosure in Edge of Africa and the current Barbary macaque enclosure in Out of Africa. The species remained at the zoo for an uninterrupted period through to 2020, when the last animals were moved out after a failed attempt to mix them with newly-arrived Barbary macaques.
Stump-tailed macaque,
Macaca arctoides
A tame one-year-old stump-tailed macaque named Peter was one of the animals present in the zoo’s 1963 opening year, according to The Story of Colchester Zoo. The species was later mentioned as living in the Monkey House in the 1966 guidebook. It is not certain when they finally left the collection.
Sulawesi crested macaque,
Macaca nigra
This species is mentioned as living in the Monkey House in the 1966 guidebook. They are also mentioned in the 1972 guidebook, presumably still living in the Monkey House. It is not certain when this species arrived, or the last year it was kept.
Moor macaque,
Macaca maura
This species is mentioned as being a resident of the Monkey House in the 1966 guidebook. It is not known if this is when they arrived, or when they departed from the collection.
Black crested mangabey,
Lophocebus aterrimus
There is not much information about when this species arrived at Colchester. According to Zootierliste, Colchester Zoo became the first zoo in the UK to breed this species in 1984. According to the IZN, they bred the species again in 1986. In 1991, the zoo received an award for the newly-opened Out of Africa exhibit that included this species. The last record I can find of this monkey species is from a zoo map dating to around 1999 to 2000.
Sooty mangabey,
Cercocebus atys
Without any further information about arrival or departure years, Zootierliste mentions that a guidebook from 1978 includes this species.
Hamadryas baboon,
Papio hamadryas
A general ‘baboon’ species is mentioned as being a resident of the Monkey House in the 1966 guidebook. The Hamadryas baboon is mentioned more specifically in the 1972 guidebook, with the photograph of the animal from this guidebook also being used as a postcard. It is not entirely clear when the species arrived at or departed from the zoo.
Mount Kilimanjaro geureza,
Colobus caudatus
It is not exactly clear if this species was kept at Colchester Zoo prior to the opening of Out of Africa in 1990. Throughout their time at the zoo, they regularly bred. They moved several times between here, the Edge of Africa monkey enclosure and a new monkey enclosure by Lion Rock, although by this time there were only three individuals remaining. The last animals were held here until 2019.
Francois leaf monkey,
Trachypithecus francoisi
A pair of this species arrived at Colchester in 2012, coming from Howletts and Twycross Zoo. The original plan was for them to get a new enclosure in Wilds of Asia, but those plans fell through when attempts to mix the lion-tailed macaques (the original inhabitants of the planned langur enclosure) with the binturongs and small-clawed otters failed. In 2016, the male langur died and the female moved to France.
Silvery leaf monkey,
Trachypithecus cristatus
The earliest record I can find of these monkeys at Colchester Zoo is from a zoo map from 1991. There are several gaps where the species is not mentioned on zoo maps, but I suspect that they remained at the zoo for the entire duration to their final departure from the collection in 2012. At that time, Colchester were the second-to-last holder of this species in Europe. They lived in several enclosures, including one of the footprint of the current rufous hornbill aviary, a now-demolished enclosure where the gibbons now live and latterly in the mixed exhibit with the binturongs and small-clawed otters.
Present holdings:
Geoffroy’s marmoset,
Callithrix geoffroyi
A big issue with identifying how long many callitrichids have been kept at Colchester Zoo is that the old maps often do not mention exact species, instead just labelling them as ‘marmosets and tamarins’. The earliest reference I can find for this species is from the 1998 guidebook. They have remained at the zoo since then, breeding fairly often. However, there is now just a single individual left in the Worlds Apart walkthrough – if any primate is to disappear from Colchester Zoo in the near future, this is one of my main suspects.
Goeldi’s monkey,
Callimico goeldii
Again, the first record I can find of a Goeldi’s monkey in Colchester Zoo is from the 2003 map. The species stayed at the zoo and bred pretty regularly until the last individual left in 2015. Recently, the species has made a welcome comeback with two males arriving from Germany in late 2023 and moving into Worlds Apart. The zoo also hopes to resume breeding the species again in the future.
Pied tamarin,
Saguinus bicolor
The first pied tamarins to arrive were two males, which came to Colchester from Montreal in 2008. The species has remained in the collection permanently since then and bred on several occasions – for much of the time they stayed in the same enclosure on the edge of the Worlds Apart building, only moving to the Worlds Apart walkthrough in January 2023.
Golden lion tamarin,
Leontopithecus rosalia
This species was present when the zoo first opened in 1963. I cannot find any direct evidence to suggest they were then present at the zoo anytime between then and 1998, where they are shown on the zoo’s map for that year and included in the guidebook. Since then, the species has remained at the zoo without interruption – they have lived at Penguin Shores, in the Worlds Apart walkthrough and, most recently, in the newly-built Canopy of South America enclosure by the Amur leopards.
Golden-headed lion tamarin,
Leontopithecus chrysomelas
The earliest record I can find of this species is from a zoo map from 1998. They seem to have remained at the zoo ever since and have almost always been kept in the Beginning Zone through that time. Today, a sibling pair can be found in the Rainforest Walkthrough.
Coppery titi,
Plecturocebus cupreus
This species first arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2012, and in that time has become a big hit. Two males were the first to be brought in, but they were soon joined by a female and a pair have bred a couple of times. Two enclosures house these monkeys – both the Worlds Apart and Rainforest Walkthroughs. The latest plans, revealed in late 2023, is for both enclosures to have their own breeding pairs.
Guianan bearded saki monkey,
Chiropotes sagulatus
A trio of this species arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2010, following the first faltering of the Rare Species Conservation Centre. One of the females died soon afterward, but the remaining pair has proved particularly fecund and bred several times. Currently, the species is kept in two enclosures with the breeding pair in Heart of the Amazon and four young males bred at the zoo living opposite the penguins in the Inca Trail.
South American squirrel monkey,
Saimiri sciureus
The Story of Colchester Zoo notes that squirrel monkeys arrived in 1965, without any information on what the exact species was. Perhaps remarkably, the next record I can find of squirrel monkeys is from the 2003 zoo map. The 1972 guidebook does mention them, but only in passing, with the only information about them being a list of other South American monkeys. However, they have been a constant since 2003, living in the Heart of the Amazon display. Today, the huge group that had to be kept across multiple enclosures is a thing of the past, with a much more modest troop of two males, eight females and a baby born in late 2023.
Buffy-headed capuchin monkey,
Sapajus xanthosternos
While capuchin monkeys are listed on the zoo maps of the 1990s and early 2000s, the first definitive proof I can find for this exact species is from a 2003 zoo map. This species has been kept continuously since then, moving between enclosures in the Aquatic and Heights zone before now becoming the first animals that visitors encounter in the Beginning Zone. It is planned for their current enclosure to get some degree of renovation in 2024, which is undoubtedly a good thing as their enclosure has not been updated since the orangutans moved out in around 2008. However, I do not know what the long-term plans for this species is, as their enclosure will eventually be demolished according to the masterplan map.
Colombian black spider monkey,
Ateles fusciceps
Determining how long this exact subspecies of monkey has been kept at Colchester Zoo is very challenging, on account that the zoo often referred to their animals just as ‘spider monkeys’ and also because of taxonomic changes among these animals over the years. A family of spider monkeys was present at Colchester Zoo when it opened in 1963. In 1966, the new Monkey House was described as being home to black spider monkeys. The 1972 guidebook describes them as Central American spider monkeys,
Ateles geoffroyi, but does specifically describe then as all-black in colour. At the start of 2007, Colchester had a troop of twenty-one spider monkeys but as of 2023 they had a much more modest group consisting of a single male and five females. Spider monkeys have been kept on roughly the same site since 1991, initially being one of several species of monkey kept in the Monkey Mountain complex before getting the entire space for themselves in around 2003.
L’Hoest’s guenon,
Allochrocebus lhoesti
The first reference I can find to this species is from a 1994 zoo map. For a long time, these monkeys lived in part of Chimp World, but now can be seen in the large open-topped display in Edge of Africa. Colchester probably has one of the largest troops of this species in the UK, with five males and five females currently living together.
Lion-tailed macaque,
Macaca silenus
The Story of Colchester Zoo records a pair of this species being present at the zoo’s opening in 1963. There is then a big gap in the records, where I am unsure if these monkeys were present, before they reappear on a 1991 zoo map. They have remained at the zoo ever since, although as of 2024 only two animals remain – a twenty-three-year-old male and twenty-eight-year-old female.
Barbary macaque,
Macaca sylvanus
Although I cannot find any other reference for it, Colchester Zoo themselves have suggested that Barbary macaques were kept sometime around 1989. When a group of the macaques arrived at the zoo in 2019 and moved into Edge of Africa, it was suggested that this was the first time in thirty years that the species had been kept. Today, the Barbary macaques live next-door to the lions and have a troop comprising two males and four females.
Cherry-crowned mangabey,
Cercocebus torquatus
The cherry-crowned mangabeys first arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2004, where they moved into the older lion enclosure where they have remained to the present day. At times, including in 2007, the group had around seven members, with births happening quite regularly. Now, there are four individuals at the zoo with the last successful breeding being from 2018.
Gelada,
Theropithecus gelada
The first geladas arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2002, where they occupied the former white rhinoceros enclosure. At the time, they were the only ones of their species in the UK. Since the decrease in number of some of the primate groups, the geladas have now become the second most abundant primate species in the zoo behind the ring-tailed lemurs – in 2023, the troop contained six males and eleven females.
Mandrill,
Mandrillus sphinx
The first record I can find of mandrills at Colchester Zoo is from 1967, where they lived in the newly-opened Monkey House. They are also mentioned in the 1972 guidebook. The IZN issue from 1986 records a pair of mandrills arriving sometime from January to April in that year, with another male departing the zoo in the same time frame. The zoo’s current troop descends from a male and two females imported in 1988 – since that time there have been four breeding males and the group has at times been over twenty strong. As of 2023, the troop has just ten members, only two of which are female. While they originally lived in a pair of enclosures, one roughly where the meerkats now live and the other now part of the Lion Rock enclosure, linked by an overhead walkway, they now live in Edge of Africa.
Although many of the massive monkey troops are a thing of the past, they are undoubtedly still the most important and diverse mammalian family at the zoo.
