Name Chosen for Brooklands Zoo's Baby Monkey

Brooklands Zoo’s baby capuchin monkey is nameless no longer.

This week the Youth Subcommittee chose the winning name of Macaco from a shortlist of five, which had been whittled down from more than 360 entries received in the Name the Baby Monkey Competition.

“The public response to the competition has been huge – much greater than we thought it would be,” says Curator Pukekura Park Chris Connolly.

Macaco is ‘monkey’ in Portuguese, a language that is spoken widely in South America where capuchins can be found in the wild.

“There were a few entries that suggested Macaco for the baby, and the winning entrant is seven-year-old Niamh Quinn,” says Mr Connolly.

“For being the winner, Niamh will receive a certificate and have an encounter with the capuchins from outside the enclosure – it will be closer to the monkeys than is usual for the public, but the encounter won’t be inside the enclosure for safety.”

Macaco has become more active in recent weeks and loves to play with the adult capuchins.

Macaco’s parents are Dixie and Boo. The capuchin name comes from their ‘caps’ of hair, which resemble the cowls of capuchin monks.