In the first of what’s sure to be a slew of Olympic-themed animal names, London Zoo have called their new Francois langur monkey "Flame."
The newborn arrived on the day the Olympic torch route was announced. And, we’re told, zookeepers thought his unusual colouring (bright orange head, black body), made him look "just like the Olympic torch". We’ve included a few pictures for you to decide…
Sadly Flame’s mum rejected her baby, so the 4-inch monkey is now being looked after by zookeeper Kate Sanders.
Kate says, "Francois langurs are extremely endangered so Flame is a very precious monkey – he looks like a torch and he’s a beacon of hope for his species.
"Like any newborn Flame needs to be fed throughout the night. I’ve been staying at the Zoo to feed him milk every one and a half hours – so I’ve not had much sleep.
"We’re planning to reintroduce him to his mum Lee Lee, dad Neo, and his other housemates in the next few months when he’s a little bigger. But at the moment we’re keeping Flame warm in his incubator."
Altogether now: Ahhh...
