In wonderful news, the first birth in the newly established ex-situ conservation breeding programme for the critically endangered buffy-headed marmoset (Callithrix flaviceps), has occurred at the Mountain Marmoset Conservation Centre at Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This is certainly the rarest marmoset species on earth, and this birth represents a huge milestone for the future conservation of the species, building ex-situ populations within the marmoset’s range and, crucially, building the capacity to care for these delicate primates. Well done to Professor Fabiano Melo and the amazing team at the centre.

Both this programme and that for the other mountain marmoset species, the buffy tufted-ear marmoset, were in part born out of the workshop series on the conservation management of marmosets and tamarins in Brazil, started by Tamarin Trust’s founder Dom Wormell. The Mountain Marmoset Conservation Centre was also jointly conceived and designed by Dom, who helped draw up protocols and enclosure plans.

The workshops continue to provide opportunities for different organisations and individuals to come together to support the conservation of a species, and the recent establishment of the two mountain marmoset conservation breeding programmes are evidence that Tamarin Trust’s partnerships, and the technical support in the design of facilities and management protocols provided by Dom and our team of consultants, are having a big impact where it is most needed.

Picture credit: Mountain Marmoset Conservation Centre, CCSS.