Cotton Top Tamarin duo joins Zoo family

Two critically endangered Cotton Top Tamarins have arrived at Wellington Zoo with the hopes of saving their species from extinction.

The two mini monkeys had travelled a great distance to live at Wellington Zoo and contribute to the international conservation breeding programme. Esteban, a 4 year old male Cotton Top Tamarin came from Blackpool Zoo in the UK, while Celeste, a 5 year old female, arrived from Bratislava Zoo in Slovakia.

The two have been introduced to each other over the last two weeks and they are now settling in their new home. They will not be introduced to the existing pair of Cotton Top Tamarins at the Zoo, as the new pair will establish a family group, and they are territorial.

“Introductions between Esteban and Celeste have gone really well and together the pair is settling in their new home in the Cotton Top habitat next to the Squirrel Monkeys,” says Harmony Wallace, Wellington Zoo Senior Keeper Primates.

“The breeding programme for Cotton Top Tamarins is vital for their survival as a species, and good zoos work collaboratively to make conservation breeding programmes like this successful,” says Harmony. “We hope the duo will contribute to the breeding programme and help with the conservation efforts for their species.”

Cotton Top Tamarins are only found in Colombia and they are one of the most critically endangered primates due to habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. It has been estimated that there are only 6,000 Cotton Top Tamarins left in the wild.

Wellington Zoo works with Proyecto Titi, a conservation project in Colombia focussed on saving Cotton Top Tamarins and their wild habitats.

“Through the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund, we actively support Proyecto Titi to monitor wild populations of Cotton Top Tamarins and develop community education programmes,” said Harmony. “Our own community can also help protect these monkeys’ native habitats by purchasing sustainable timber and paper products marked with the FSC logo.”

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