Lemurs stocking up on festive treats as Christmas comes early to Whipsnade Zoo

Ring-tailed lemurs woke up to Christmas stockings stuffed with goodies at Whipsnade Zoo.

The excitable, stripy primates discovered the colourful stockings, filled with vegetable treats, in their enclosure at the UK’s largest zoo and lost no time tucking into their festive gifts.

Pien, a female lemur, seemed to take particular delight in the Christmas surprises, sticking her whole head inside the stocking to find every last, prized piece of sweetcorn.

Team leader Hayley Jakeman said: “Our inquisitive troop of ring-tailed lemurs are always excited to discover new things, so waking up this morning to find ‘Santa Claws’ had paid a visit has obviously made

their day.

“As well as bit of festive fun, activities like this engage their natural instincts to sniff out and explore new objects. Groups of ring-tailed lemurs are very hierarchical and Pien is actually the lowest-ranking

female in the group, so she obviously saw it as a huge opportunity to get her hands on some healthy snacks before the rest of the troop could get there.”

“Hopefully, Pien and her troop of lemurs will see lots of families on Boxing Day as they walk off their Christmas dinners and enjoy the beauty of Whipsnade Zoo and its awe-inspiring wildlife.”

Whipsnade Zoo is open every day except Christmas Day.

For a behind-the-scenes look at how zookeepers at Whipsnade and London Zoo get ready for Christmas, tune in to Channel 4’s festive special London Zoo at Christmas – airing at 8pm on Friday, December 23.