THE fascinating behaviour of cheeky new arrivals at Washford Cross zoo has amused keepers during the cold snap.

Staff at Tropiquaria were particularly concerned about a group of ring-tailed lemurs which arrived a few weeks before the cold weather set in.

Devine, William, Katrina, Barry and Julien were behaving as expected while they settled into their new home, which included a heater, until the festive period.

Zoo director Chris Moiser said: “We had the heater set at a temperature we thought they would find comfortable but that wouldn’t hopefully cost us too much in electricity.

“I noticed the heating had been turned up to maximum, so I turned it down and made a mental note to speak to the keepers about the electricity bill. The following day it was up to maximum again.”

Keepers discovered after observing the lemurs that they were turning the thermostat up on the cooler nights.

Chris added: “As well as turning the heater up they will drape themselves over it to re-warm after they have played out in the cold. The normal lemur behaviour in the cold is to huddle but these do that and then take it in turns to have a ‘heater huddle’ too.”