Burping Baby Bounced

SOKOJOO the baby monkey has been abandoned by her mother - because of her chronic HICCUPS. The tiny Colobus started the noisy spasms within days of being born on December 30.

Staff at Newquay Zoo in Cornwall said she was gulping down milk from her mum Sierra too quickly and making the ’hic’ sound after every feed.

The problem got so bad that Sierra refused to feed her and started sitting on top of the 800g mite as a sign of rejection. Keepers have now removed Sokojoo from the Colobus enclosure and are hand-rearing her with a bottle.

But the burping baby - whose name means ’hiccup’ in the Mandinka language of her native Gambia - is still sounding off after her regular feed every two hours.

Zoo spokesman Michelle Turton said: ”She hiccups after feeding which is very cute and it makes her seem so human. But sadly her mum rejected her.

“We have kept an eye on her round-the-clock and have feeding her milk from a bottle every two hours. She loves her milk and it will soon be time to move her onto solids. We are hoping that will help with the hiccups.”

In a few weeks Sokojoo, who is growing a tufty coat of black and white hair, will start to eat leaves, flowers and fruit.

Keepers will try to reintroduce her to the zoo’s family of Colobus monkeys in three months time.

Zoo director Stewart Muir said: ”As soon as the baby is onto solid food we will place her within a small enclosure in the main Colobus enclosure. That way she she can get used to the sights, sounds, smells of the adults. We don’t want the baby to get too imprinted by us.”

Black and white Colobus monkeys are found between Gambia and The Ivory Coast in West Africa. They live in small groups of three to four females and one to three males, plus their young.