Lift off! Bill Oddie opens baboon enclosure

Crowds gathered in the rain to see Bill open the new one-acre hillside exhibit, which now houses a family group of Gelada baboons and take a ride over the attraction on one of the zoo's chairlifts.

Bill also met his namesake, seven-week-old Gelada baby Billie, whose mother Addis was one of a group of Gelada females to arrive from France last year.

Bill said: "This year it was very important to me that I make a point to visit as many zoos up and down the country to see the work that they do."

When asked what he thought about his name being given to the baby baboon Bill said: "It's a very nice thought and I will endeavour to set a great example for young Billie."

Head of media and communications at the zoo, Jill Hitchman, said: "Bill officially opened our Baboons on the Bank enclosure which was built in-house by our development team and provides a natural hillside home for the five-strong Gelada group.

"He is a keen supporter of the zoo's work and took a tour of the site to see our latest developments and met a few new arrivals during our recent baby boom – including seven-week-old Billie.

"Billie is gorgeous and already very alert, he loves watching what's going on around him and is starting to communicate with group members through facial expressions, which is how the species interacts."

Geladas, the last surviving species of grazing primate, originate from the Ethiopian highlands and are also known as bleeding heart baboons due to the bare patch of red skin they have on their chests.

Nicola Wright, team leader for lower primates, said: "When we first heard Bill was coming naming Billie was easy. Billie hadn't actually arrived yet though so there was no way to know his sex but Billie is a great unisex name anyway.

"The attraction has actually been open for about 12 months now but it was great to get Bill out to open it properly."