Three baby black and white ruffed lemurs, a critically endangered species of primate, have been born at Fota Wildlife Park.

The wildlife park on Cork’s Fota Island confirmed the news yesterday, announcing that the three babies had been born to 19-year-old mother Cloud, and nine-year-old father Paraic, who himself was born in Fota.

The park said: “The three baby lemurs were born on the 3rd of June after a gestation period of 102 days. The new arrivals also share their island habitat on the main lake at Fota with their four older siblings, twin brothers Nimbus and Cumulus who were born in 2019, and brother and sister twins, Banie and Dubh, born in June last year.”

The park is now looking for help from the public to name the new babies. The sex of the animals remains unknown for now, but whomever provides the winning name will win one of three Conservation Annual Passes to Fota Wildlife Park.

*** Announcing*** 3 new critically endangered Black & white ruffed lemur babies. Born 3rd June to mum Cloud who is 19 yrs old & 9 yr old Fota-born dad Paraic. As yet we have no names picked, please help via https://t.co/qLvDULBVVA #Fotawildlife #CriticallyEndangered #Lemurs pic.twitter.com/priXjiT8En

— Fota Wildlife Park (@fotawildlife) August 11, 2021

The good news follows the birth of several ring-tailed lemurs earlier this summer at Fota.

Lead Ranger Teresa Power said about the births: “We are delighted with the birth of three new black and white ruffed lemur babies, both the babies and their mother Cloud are doing well.

“Births in the Park are always exciting, but with 31% of all lemur species in Madagascar now critically endangered and 98% of lemurs threatened, to have such continued success with these critically endangered lemurs is tremendous and it’s a great indication of how happy and healthy these primates are here at the Park.”

According to the Fota website: “As with all lemurs, the species is native to Madagascar and the black and white ruffed lemurs are found in the tropical forests of Eastern Madagascar. The species is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to hunting and habitat loss and fragmentation.

“The Island of Madagascar has lost 90% of its forest cover in the last 200 years. This has resulted in 80% of its animal and plant life being in danger of extinction. There are less than 250 Black and white ruffed lemurs remaining in the wild today.”