The four-week-old pups can now be seen exploring the Lemur Walkthrough.

Black and white ruffed pups explore their enclosure

A trio of critically endangered lemurs have been born at Twycross Zoo. The young black and white ruffed lemurs can now be seen exploring their surroundings.

Wild lemurs can only be found in Madagascar. Over the past two decades, the black and white ruffed species has seen catastrophic declines of 80 per cent due to a rapid increase in urban development and loss of their habitat to commercial logging.

Twycross Zoo was contacted by the European Endangered Species Programme to establish a new breeding pair of black and white ruffed lemurs in the UK.

Male Caginca and female Twister arrived at the zoo in 2014 and just 15 months later, Twister has given birth to her first litter of pups.

As they are a nesting species of lemur, the parents leave the pups in their nest for the first few weeks of life, before carrying them around in their mouths to different safety spots.

Dr Charlotte Macdonald, director of life sciences, said: "Zoos have a critical role to play in preserving these species as the impending extinction crisis in Madagascar worsens, and this successful birth is a very important contribution to the worldwide population."

Staff have been monitoring the new family closely and first-time mother Twister and her pups are said to be doing well.

The four-week-old pups can now be seen exploring the Lemur Walkthrough, which is open to the public, and also contains eight ring-tailed lemurs.

Image © Philippa Dobbs