In November, Tamarin Trust’s Dom Wormell will be co-leading a workshop in Manaus with ICMBio focused on the care of rescued pied tamarins in the city at the CETAS rescue centre and the CIGS zoo. The workshop is being funded by Toledo Zoo in the USA and staff from both Toledo Zoo and Apenheul in the Netherlands will be teaching.

Since 2016, CETAS/IBAMA has been the only public facility in the whole state of Amazonas that has responsibility for receiving, caring for, rehabilitating and deciding on the eventual fate of wild animals.The pied tamarin is unfortunately appearing in the CETAS rescue centre with increasing frequency. From 2007 to 2020, 213 tamarins were taken into centres. Some of them arrive healthy, but a large number of the rescued animals have some problem, sometimes suffering extreme stress or illness. Many have been attacked by domestic dogs and cats. electrocuted on power cables or hit by cars on the many roads in the area. Individuals and groups need to be rescued from fragmented habitats or areas that are due to be felled as the city continues to expand. Tamarins may also have been confiscated from the pet trade, or have been brought in by members of the public. Keeping these individuals in the best possible health when they come into captivity, even for a short period of time, is essential.

The centre’s staff therefore need a wide range of skills and expertise. In addition to veterinary care, the tamarins need suitable accommodation, an appropriate diet, and monitoring for behavioural problems. The work shop will focus on all aspects of husbandry and also work on designs for new enclosures and a new centre which will hopefully be built in the future.