A lemur born shortly after a disastrous fire in their enclosure is celebrating its first birthday at the Curraghs Wildlife Park.

Named Phoenix by staff, the critically endangered Alaotran Gentle Lemur was born just months after parents Geoff and Amondi survived the blaze in April 2018.

The primates, from Madagascar, are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) critically endangered list with as few as 2,500 left in the wild.

Last year saw two lemurs, the daughters of Geoff and Amondi, perish in the blaze, which was caused by an electrical fault.

Despite its age, Phoenix’s gender is still not determined. This can take a long time to become obvious, even to the trained eye.

Lemurs are found in wetland areas, however their natural habitat is shrinking, placing the animals, sometimes called bamboo because of their diets, at further risk.

To celebrate Phoenix’s first birthday, the wildlife park has donated £1,000 to conservation efforts by the Durrell Zoo in Jersey to help preserve the habitat of Lake Alaotra where the species exclusively lives in the highlands of Madagascar.

And while the lemurs have been living in temporary accommodation, their new home is almost ready, with staff planning to move them in later in the year.

Their new house has been built from metal and different heaters, which are surrounded by fire resistant boards, have been used.

A park spokesman said: ’It is hoped that it won’t be too long before Phoenix has a sibling, with the breeding program an important part of safe guarding the species along with conservation in the field.

’The new enclosure sits on the former site of a bat enclosure so is quite wet and mirrors the wetland the species love so much. It has been planted with bulrushes, Norfolk reeds and willow trees alongside wild flowers, Madagascan palm trees and the bamboo from which they get their name.’