Family

These New World Callitrichids are very social and live in family troops of 2 – 13 members. Both male and female tamarins share parenting duties, and males will often carry babies around on their backs (like a little baby backpack!). As they grow up, the offspring will stay in the family group and help to raise their siblings as well – which is an important part of their development. Cotton-top tamarins mate for life and a group will have one dominant breeding pair, meaning only one female has babies at a time.

Adaptations/Head to toe to tail

Cotton-top tamarins have long claw-like nails to help with climbing trees and accessing hard-to-reach food. Their hands and feet look very similar, with claws on all fingers except one, which has a special nail they use for grooming themselves and their family members. Their long tail provides excellent balance when they’re hanging from their back legs or jumping between trees.

At the Zoo

This primate species lives in the mid to lower of the forest. To stimulate their natural behaviours and give them opportunities to forage, our primate team hide tasty snacks such as locusts and mealworms under bark, in logs, or in enrichment activity feeders around their habitat. The cotton-top tamarins will use their long thin fingers to find and extract this food. This is fun for these inquisitive monkeys, making sure they have mental stimulation and utilise their problem-solving skills.

In the wild, cotton-top tamarins play an important role in their ecosystems by dispersing seeds through their digestive systems from the fruits they eat.

You can also visit other species of tamarin at Auckland Zoo: the emperor tamarin and the golden lion tamarin are both found on the South America Rainforest Track with the cotton-top tamarin.

In the Wild

Origin: Colombia

Habitat: Tropical rainforest

Conservation status: IUCN – Critically Endangered

It is estimated there are only 6,000 cotton-top tamarins left in the wild. Habitat loss from deforestation contributes to the declining populations of cotton-top tamarins.

How we’re helping

The Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund supports a variety of conservation projects in the wild, both locally and overseas, including our support for the brown spider monkey (Critically Endangered and included in the list of the 25 most threatened primate on the planet).

Our conservation partners, the Spider Monkey Conservation Project, are working hard to save the remaining animals in fragmented forest on the Venezuelan/Columbian border through essential research into their numbers and population trends and by employing locals to protect and re-plant the forest.

How you can help

Habitat loss from deforestation contributes to the declining number of cotton-top tamarins in the wild. You can help at home to protect habitat loss by purchasing paper, wood, and cardboard products with a ‘PEFC’ (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) or ‘FSC’ (Forest Stewardship Council) logo. These wood certification schemes are considered ‘rainforest friendly’ and promote sustainably managed forests in timber supply chains.