It has been announced that a baby Dianna Monkey at Port Lympne Wild Park has been nicknamed Ronnie to coincide with the Zoo 8 music festival. Ronnie is just over two months old and is being hand reared after his mother was unable to bond with him due to a caesarean birth.

Top DJ and producer Mark Ronson will be headlining on the festivals opening day on the 4th July. The festival has given a £30,000 donation to the Aspinall Foundation which runs the Port Lympne and Howletts animal parks to help pay for Ronnie’s future care and development.

Jamie Robertson who is Ronnie’s keeper said that “We try not to hand rear if we can avoid it but in this case we had to intervene because once that bond has not been created there is no other way. It is a bit like being a dad again for the second time. I have to get up in the night to give him his feeds; luckily I am used to it from my own children.”

The Zoo 8 festival is not the first to be staged by Port Lympne but it is the first time it will run for three continues days. Bob O’ Connor who is the managing director of the Zoo said that “We have to raise a total of nine million pounds a year to carry out our work both here and in Africa. The amount of money needed to raise just one animal is considerable, especially if they need special care. This is the first time we have run a festival over three days and we hope it will be a way of attracting people to the park who might not initially think that an animal park is for them.”

Will you be attending this festival?

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