Queensland zookeepers are anxiously awaiting the return of their beloved cotton-top tamarin monkey but Conchetta's return is bittersweet.

When she was stolen in October from her enclosure at Alma Park Zoo, north of Brisbane, she was heavily pregnant with twins.

Conchetta's mate, Tonto, was found battered and dead nearby not long after they were taken.

Given the male of the species raises the young, there's no hope the babies have survived.

Police are continuing to investigate the theft, after a 34-year-old Victorian man gave a tamarin monkey to a Sydney wildlife park, believing it was their stolen monkey.