A WOTTONIAN has been featured on American television in CBS's 60 Minutes documentary talking about his discovery of a new species of monkey.

Dr Robert Wallace, 37, was born in Berkeley Hospital, and attended The British Primary School and Katharine Lady Berkeley's School in Wotton-under-Edge.

He studied zoology at Nottingham University and completed a PhD at Liverpool University.

His mother, Jane Wallace, a member of Wotton Dramatic Society, who works in the Cotswold Book Room) said: "From the age of two, when his grandfather gave him a very complicated reference book about animals, Robert became almost exclusively interested in animals. He does follow Liverpool Football Club as well, though!" At the end of the 1980s, Robert Wallace moved to Bolivia, with his wife who is half-Bolivian.

Now, he is inviting people from all round the world to name the species of monkey he discovered.

The highest bidder in an international auction will have the name of their choice permanently entered in all future references, including scientific publications, field guides, and other publications mentioning the new species.

The online auction is being hosted by Charity Folks, an auction venue for non-profit-making projects. It recently sold a guitar autographed by former Beatle Paul McCartney, as well as lunch with former US President Bill Clinton. The monkey-naming auction runs from February 24 to March 3.

During the past few centuries newly discovered species have been named after royalty, patrons of science, and even the explorers themselves, such as the Queen Victoria crowned pigeon, Rothschild's giraffe and Roosevelt's elk.

"This is conservation at its most pragmatic," said Wildlife Conservation Society president Dr Steven Sanderson.

"The auction will give the public a chance to help Bolivia safeguard one of the world's crown jewels for wildlife, reminding us that the future of conservation is on everyone's shoulders."

Conservationist Robert Wallace, who works with WCS, discovered the currently unnamed brown-and-orange monkey last year in Bolivia's Madidi

National Park, the most biologically rich protected area on earth situated in South America's poorest nation.

The auction will raise money to protect the park from illegal settlements and unsustainable resource extraction. All funds generated from the naming will go to Bolivia's park service for better enforcement, protection and management of Madidi and its wildlife.

"As a wildlife biologist, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover a large mammal species, and an extreme honor to name it", Robert Wallace said. "But it's far more important that the species habitat remains protected, which is why WCS has decided to work in partnership with Bolivian park authorities to auction its name to the highest bidder.

"This opportunity is for someone who wants to leave behind a truly lasting legacy that they cared about conservation and wildlife."

According to Robert Wallace, very little is known about the new monkey except that it stands about a foot tall, weighs two pounds and likes fruit.

In the morning pairs of them gather and 'duet', calling back and forth while clutching each other in what resembles a human embrace.

For more information about the auction, and to place a bid, visit www.charityfolks.com/monkey. To learn more about Madidi National Park, visit www.wcs.org/madidimonkey.