Primate Keepers at Dudley Zoo and Castle have discovered its four week-old rare black lemur twins are a boy and a girl and, given the historic royal occasion, have named them after the King and Queen.

Black lemurs are very special to Dudley Zoo as the attraction is the studbook keeper for the species, with Curator Richard Brown in charge of studying the genetic makeup and making breeding recommendations of black lemurs in 75 collections worldwide.

Endemic to Madagascar, black lemurs are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to being under threat for food and the pet trade, with the captive population carefully maintained as a safety net against extinction in the wild. Lower Primates Section Leader, Jodie Dryden, said:

“We’re really pleased to have both a boy and a girl, and we felt it was very apt as it Coronation weekend to name the babies after the new King and Queen.

“Our little Charles and Camilla are making fantastic progress. At one month-old, they’re still snuggled up to mum, Barbara, but we’re looking forward to watching them have happy and glorious lives.”

The Zoo’s adorable twin arrivals can easily be distinguished, as despite the species being called black lemurs, only males remain black in colour, as females turn brown a few weeks after birth, with baby Camilla already sporting tufts of white fur around her ears like her Mum.