Storm Eunice: Marmosets escape enclosure amid high winds

Marmosets Marmite and Melodie escaped from their enclosure at Writtle College on Friday

Two captive marmosets escaped into the wild when their enclosure was lifted by the high winds of Storm Eunice.

Siblings Marmite and Melodie wriggled out of a small gap which formed in the heated wooden structure on Friday.

Staff at Writtle College, Essex, mounted an extensive search for the panicked primates, but efforts were hampered by the weather.

After briefly sampling the UK winter, the pair were spotted in trees near their enclosure on Saturday.

Kersty Ellis, from the college's animal unit, said "they must have been hungry and returned to their safe place".

Ms Ellis said the marmosets' enclosure was lifted up by Friday's wind and a gap remained at the bottom once it had settled back down.

The wind lifted up the enclosure and a gap opened up, which the monkeys escaped from

In a plea for help posted on Facebook, the unit appealed for sightings and said the marmosets, who are native to South America, "are not designed for February in the UK".

"The wind spooked them and they haven't been seen since earlier today. High winds and lots of trees has made it impossible to try to track them."

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When Melodie and Marmite were spotted, Ms Ellis said, they were eventually persuaded back into their enclosure.

"They were then moved to an indoor location temporarily until we can fix the housing," she said.

Writtle College said the marmosets were "kept to help develop skills in animal care for our students"

She said the pair, born in 2012 and 2013, were "kept in the best conditions and are kept to help develop skills in animal care for our students".

The centre acquired them from a garden centre in Hertfordshire in 2014.

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