One of the world’s most endangered primates has been born at Chester Zoo.

The rare baby cotton-top tamarin monkey arrived to first time parents Treat (3) and Leo (5), measuring just 10cm from head to tail and weighing a mere 40g.

Conservationists at the zoo say they are “overjoyed” at the birth, with cotton-top tamarins listed as critically endangered on the International Union of Conservation and Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. It’s estimated that just 2,000 breeding animals remain in the wild - tamarins have already undergone a large reduction in their numbers and are predicted to decline by 80% in the next 20 years, making them one of rarest of all primate species.

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Racine Zoo welcomes a new set of tamarin babies to the family

Once again, twin emperor tamarin infants have been born to Amelie and Pitino at the Racine Zoo! Amelie, the mother, was herself born at the Racine Zoo, and these offspring represent the pair’s fifth and sixth offspring in the past three years. The tiny females, named Gabriella & Gianna, born on December 22, 2021, are doing fantastically.

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On Oct. 7, the National Zoo’s Small Mammal House team celebrated the arrival of golden-headed lion tamarin twins! They are the first of their endangered species born at the Zoo in 16 years.

Get to know the mischievous and curious babies from keepers Mimi Nowlin and Maria Montgomery: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/meet-our-golden-headed-lion-tamarin-twins

On the night of November 15th, Auckland Zoo’s Emperor Tamarin Rose gave birth to two gorgeous, healthy babies. Twins are quite common in tamarin pregnancies, with the gestation lasting around 140 – 145 days.

Some of this footage was taken the following day by primate keeper Sam and shows dad Ladino with the babies on his back, with mum Rose taking them for a clean.

Primate keeper Amy Petherick also got some amazing shots of the growing family.

At this stage, the twins are getting all of the nutrients they need from their mum and will start to wean off her milk at around three months of age.

Ladino and Rose are already proud parents to one-year-old female Isla and twins Xoco and Emilio, who were born earlier this year. It’s still too early to know the sex of these babies, but we’ll keep you updated once they’re sexed and named!

Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, Schönbrunn Zoo once again has some good news. Zoo Vienna has moustached baby monkeys! “Our Emperor Tamarins Tamaya and Purple have had triplets. The hallmark of this marmoset species is its long, white mustache, which both males and females wear. Even with the three tiny ones, the beard is easy to see,” says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck. The last offspring among the Emperor Tamarins was five years ago. The new trio was born on December 1st. Not counting the tail, they are only an estimated five centimeters tall. The zookeepers have not yet been able to tell whether they are females or males.

These are the first offspring for Tamaya and Purple. The triplets keep dad Purple on the go. With Emperor Tamarins, the rearing of the young is up to the males. Hering-Hagenbeck says: “Most of the time, the father carries the young animals on his back. If the little ones get hungry, their mother takes over to suckle them.” The mini-monkeys are getting bolder every day and are already making first attempts at climbing. Clawed fingers and toes give them the necessary support. Emperor Tamarins are native to the rainforests of South America. Schönbrunn’s monkey family is in need of animal sponsors. If you want to support the currently closed zoo, you can become a sponsor for 80 euros per month.

You can find information about animal sponsorships at Schönbrunn Zoo at www.zoovienna.at/patenschaften

Photos copyright: Daniel Zupanc

It’s been a long and rewarding journey to get Auckland Zoo's GLT twins, female Aurora and male Raffino, to this point and has required the considerable skill, passion and commitment of the Zoo's primate keepers.

As Primate team leader Amy explains, the decision to hand-rear is never taken lightly as there are always risks involved. The primate team used their expertise, coupled with the best science and the knowledge that the twins would have each other to bond with, to make this decision and without it these critically endangered twins would have simply not survived.

Filmed over the past three and a half months, Auckland Zoo puts their primate team’s mahi on show as they go from feeding the twins around the clock, to weaning them off of milk and onto solid foods like delicious mango, the successful integration with their parents Alonzo and Frida, and finally, welcoming the family unit into their Rainforest habitat!

Auckland Zoo is now one of the few places in the world that can proudly say they've successfully hand-reared golden lion tamarins and will be adding to global knowledge about the species. You can see the new family troop of four at Auckland Zoo this weekend.

Early in the morning on March 28, the care team at John Ball Zoo discovered not one, not two, but three Cotton-top Tamarin babies had been born overnight.

The birth of triplets in this species is unusual. Most often, females give birth to twins. So far, parents Lilo and Kevin are providing excellent care for their trio of newborns.

Photo Credit: John Ball Zoo

These tiny primates live in small family groups, with the males and other troop members helping to care for infants. Adults weigh only about one pound.

Cotton-top Tamarins are native to the forests of northwestern Colombia, but only about 5% of their original forest habitat remains intact. As a result of this drastic habitat loss, Cotton-top Tamarins are listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

About 6,000 Tamarins are thought to survive in the wild. It is believed that 40,000 Tamarins were collected and sold for biomedical use before 1976, when international trade was banned.

La Palmyre Zoo’s female Cotton-top Tamarin recently gave birth to twins. This is the first birth for the Zoo’s breeding pair, which was created one year ago. The babies are now four-weeks old and are doing very well.

Photo Credits: La Palmyre Zoo /Florence Perroux

Cotton-top Tamarins are easily recognizable by the crest of white hair around their head. They usually live in small groups composed of 10 to 15 individuals and spend their day foraging for food. They mainly eat fruits, except during the dry season when fruits are scarcer. During dry seasons, they eat gum, nectar, and insects.

Cotton-top Tamarins are able to produce 40 different vocalizations that are used for delimiting their territory, indicate food or predators.

With Tamarins and Marmosets, all the group members take care of the offspring: the mother breastfeeds her babies but the father and the other individuals carry them when they are not suckling. This cooperation offers advantages: the non-mature individuals practice their future parental skills, and the male reinforces its privileged access and relationships with the female.

An almost total deforestation of the Cotton-tops home range, as well as the capture of thousands of wild specimens for medical research purposes in the 60s, nearly pushed the species to the brink of extinction in it’s native Colombia. It now numbers about 6,000 individuals but is listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List.

Since the end of the 80s, the Proyecto Titi, supported by La Palmyre Zoo, is managing a multidisciplinary conservation programme that has been studying groups of Cotton-top Tamarins in the wild, educating local communities and working to create several protected areas.

The year 2018 ended on a high note for the Shaldon Wildlife Trust with the births of two endangered Tamarins.

Tamarins are a group of Monkeys native to Central and South America. There are more than 30 species of Tamarins, and most are roughly the size of a squirrel.

Photos of Cotton-top Tamarin: Brian Lilly

A Pied Tamarin (not pictured) arrived in late October, the 12^th to be born at the zoo. This species is found only in a small slice of tropical rain forest near the Brazilian city of Manaus. Pied Tamarins require highly specialized care and feeding, so zoo births are rare. The species is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), because it is threatened with habitat loss.

A Cotton-top Tamarin born this fall is the first to be born at the facility in 15 years.  The baby was born to parents Tina and Turner, who are providing excellent care for their offspring. Males assist the female by carrying the baby on their back.

Like their cousins the Pied Tamarins, Cotton-top Tamarins are native to South America and have a unique diet that includes tree sap. They are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, with only about 6,000 individuals remaining in the wild. They were once listed as one of the 25 most endangered Primates in the world.

Cooperative breeding programs among zoos help to maintain a high level of genetic diversity within the zoo-dwelling population. Once these two babies have grown up, they will likely move to other European zoos and breed with unrelated individuals, thus bolstering the species.

The Chattanooga Zoo is excited to announce the birth of a Golden Lion Tamarin. The infant was born to first time parents, Fuego and Caliente, on July 1. The Zoo reports that parents and infant are all doing great!

This successful birth is marked as an incredibly important step towards the Chattanooga Zoo’s efforts to help conserve the Golden Lion Tamarin in the wild.

Photo Credits: Chattanooga Zoo

The Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) is a small, social South American primate found in the jungles of Brazil. They are currently classified as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), mostly due to threats of habitat loss.

At one time, their wild population was noted as under 500 individuals. However, intensive efforts have been taken by multiple organizations, including multiple American zoological institutions and the Brazilian Government, to help recover this population.

Stacy Laberdee, General Curator stated, “We are honored to have a hand in the conservation of this important species through our work with the Species Survival Plan. The birth of a healthy, genetically diverse Golden Lion Tamarin is something to celebrate and should be considered a great success for conservation.”

In an effort to conserve this species in the wild, Fuego and Caliente (both 5-years-old), were placed together at the Chattanooga Zoo through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) in the fall of 2017. Fuego arrived at the Zoo through the SSP from Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY and Caliente came from Topeka Zoological Park in Topeka, KS. Upon their arrival, they were introduced and connected immediately. This new family of three is the first group of Golden Lion Tamarins the Chattanooga Zoo has housed and they are especially pleased with the quick success of breeding this species.

President and CEO of the Chattanooga Zoo, Darde Long, stated, “After all the hard work of our incredible staff, this joyous birth is so rewarding. It is vital to the animals that we continue these conservation programs and help re-establish their populations in the wild. This international partnership is essential to achieving this goal.”