Just imagine, a collection of staring primates, in their social groups, enjoying themselves in a natural habitat...

But hey, enough about the visitors to Monkey Heights, let's concentrate on the inhabitants for now...

The old monkey house was one of the oldest parts of Paignton Zoo and now, thanks to its replacement, Devon gets to meet some new species.

The lesser mouse deer, the tree shrew, the Prevost's squirrel and the lowland anoa are all going to be getting a home in the new centre for the zoo's mammal department.

The very noticeable Prevost's squirrel

The squirrels have been sent over by Marwell Zoo in Winchester as part of Paignton Zoo's wish list.

Animal transfers between zoos are constantly happening for many reasons such as breeding programs, bringing new species in or even to reduce a surplus and make the animals lives easier.

This procedure is also how Paignton acquired two of its other arrivals. Both the lesser mouse deer (a strange mix of pig and deer) and the large tree shrew have taken the short trip from Newquay.

The two, a male mouse deer and female tree shrew, have been sharing an exhibit in Paignton's sister zoo in Cornwall and will be placed together again in the third building in the new Monkey Heights.

The mouse deer will also be part of a European breeding programme, something Paignton Zoo is well known for taking part in to help conserve threatened species.

Using the knowledge that they normally co-exist in the wild, the zoo staff will put the lowland anoa into an enclosure with the macaques.

The shared enclosure for lowland anoa and macaques

The two species are often close 'neighbours' in Indonesia and will share part of a new enclosure in Monkey Heights.

The whole of Monkey Heights has been a huge local project.

Other than the occasional contractor coming in most of the work has been done by the zoo's own staff.

While they were planning it there was one key consideration.

"The most important thing is the animals," said Phillip Knowling, Press Officer for the zoo.

"Monkey Heights has lots of space indoors and out and food can be placed around the enclosure to encourage natural foraging."

Despite that there is one other group who need to be safe in there - the keepers. Senior Head Keeper of Mammals Julian Chapman said it's mostly about ease of use.

"For us it's the time it takes to clean out enclosures and feed the animals," he said.

"It's practicalities like: can you get a wheelbarrow through the gate? Does the water drain away properly when you hose down?"

The climbing frames go up to make...

...the perfect treehouse for a monkey

Plus, of course, these are wild animals and however used they are to humans, things are never certain. Also accidents can happen.

"Safety is a priority," said Julian. "Whether it's making sure you don't bang your head on a low beam or keeping a good distance from the jaws of a big monkey."

For the monkeys their new surroundings compare to an adventure playground. Care has been taken to fill the areas with all manner of frames, treehouses and toys.

The Heights is as green as it gets, being heated by solar water power from a rainwater tank on the roof, and even that was recycled from a (well cleaned) oil storage tank.

Because of the height of the public walkways this brings the monkeys into a close proximity to the guests as for once the public get to look downwards on the climbing monkeys rather than the other way around.

The buildings themselves are built in the style of a jungle exploration and the zoo hopes it'll educate children while entertaining them, and possibly a few adults too...