A BABY monkey has been named in honour of one of Shaldon Wildlife Trust’s volunteers.

The work of volunteer Nigel Edwards, who recently died, has been recognised by Shaldon Wildlife Trus by naming a baby titi monkey after him. 

Nigel had volunteered at Shaldon Wildlife Trust for more than 20 years, welcoming visitors into the zoo at the front desk.

He died suddenly in May and the trust wanted to mark his contribution to the zoo. 

As one of the longest-standing and loved members of the team, it was felt appropriate to name a new monkey, born in January, after him. 

Trust spokesman Zac Showell said: ‘ Nigel was one of our most loved volunteers, turning up armed with a box of chocolates every Saturday morning, without fail, to keep the rest of the volunteers going. 

‘In those 20 years Nigel served tens if not hundreds of thousands of visitors to the zoo. 

‘As one most long-standing and beloved volunteers it only felt right that Nigel’s legacy lives on and our baby titi monkey, born in January, needed a name. 

‘Born to Cupid and Joey, their eighth offspring, the new red titi monkey is yet another important addition to the captive breeding population for this species.

'Given the years of dedication to the charity the least we could do is name one of our baby animals after Nigel. 

‘Nigel was also an incredibly keen and apt horticulturist, and we will be planting a camelia, one of his favourite plants, in the zoo in his honour soon.’