Cheeky monkeys at Dudley Zoological Gardens (DZG) are wearing colour-coded jubilee bling as part of a study into social behaviour.





Ring-tailed lemurs, squirrel monkeys and black-and-white-ruffed lemurs at the award-winning West Midlands tourist attraction have been given brightly coloured collars so that they can be easily identified and their behaviour observed.


 


The colour-coding scheme allows keepers to watch the primates’ interacting skills at long distance and to study social relationships within the group.





Head of Media and Communications, Jill Hitchman, said the collar scheme was proving very helpful to keepers, but admitted staff have had to hand out a few ASBOs to mischievous primates who pry into visitors’ bags.





She said:?“The colour-coded method makes it easier to identify primates from a distance and  saves having to pick them up to examine their microchips, and just for this month we’ve opted for patriotic red white and blue tags to mark the Diamond Jubilee.


 


“The tags certainly makes life easier for keepers when some of the less-shy lemurs try to look into visitors’ bags and reach out for their cameras.





“However, while it has been a big success with most of the group some of the black-and-white lemurs have worked out how to unfasten their collars so we’re now looking at ways to make them more secure so they will stay in place.”

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