What’s for lunch?

Emperor tamarins are omnivorous, and mostly eat fruits, vegetables, nectar, and insects. Sometimes our primate team will give them hibiscus flowers, which they love to eat the pollen from. Emperor tamarins use their long, narrow fingers to reach into the flower to get the food within.

When a baby tamarin is born, it feeds every 2-3 hours from its mother. After around 3 months, it will wean off milk and begin to eat solid foods. By watching their parents and siblings eat at mealtimes, baby tamarins learn how to eat solid foods, such as locusts and other insects.

Emperor tamarins can see blue and green colours, but 60% of females can also recognise red. Seeing colours is helpful for spotting predators, but being able to see red helps them decide which fruit is ripe enough to eat.

At the Zoo

Emperor tamarins live in the higher canopy of the rainforest above 10 metres and enjoy foraging for food at height. In their habitats at the Zoo, hanging feeders and arboreal pathways allow them to forage, climb, and rest as they would in the wild. They also have indoor areas available with heat pumps to keep temperatures warm, above 20 degrees Celsius.

To keep them stimulated, keepers provide enrichment activities including pinecones covered with acacia gum (which tamarins love to eat) or stuffed with melon, boxes filled will leaves, scented fabrics, popcorn, and spices, or hiding insects in enrichment feeder boxes around the habitat.

In the Wild

Origin: Bolivia, Brazil and Peru

Habitat: Rainforest

Conservation status: IUCN – Least Concern

Emperor tamarins live in eastern Amazonian rainforests in Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Sadly, the emperor tamarin population is declining due to a combination of deforestation and human impact. Their cute appearance makes them vulnerable to illegal pet trading, and habitat changes from illegal logging and deforestation has fragmented the wild tamarin population, reducing breeding activity.

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 emperor 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.