Saving the world’s smallest monkeys from extinction
This wonderful tamarin is known as the “monkey of Manaus”, as it is only found in the remaining forests in and around this famous city at the heart of the Amazon basin. The pied tamarin is critically endangered and perhaps the most threatened of all the Amazon forest’s primate.
Zoos are building a safety net population to ensure the survival of the species and to provide tamarins for future introduction in restored areas. We provide technical advice on managing rescued and translocated tamarins, and support the development of a specialist rescue centre in Manaus, as well as helping local conservationists build the skills they need to help save these wonderful monkeys from extinction.
Click here for further information on how we help the pied tamarin.
Buffy tufted-ear marmoset
The buffy tufted-ear marmoset, Callithrix aurita, is one of the “mountain marmosets” of the higher altitude Atlantic rainforest remnants along the eastern side of Brazil. Threatened by habitat loss and by invasive pet marmosets that have been illegally released into its habitat, a conservation plan for these tiny monkeys has now been set up in Brazil.
Very little is known about them, so we are supporting surveys to find out where they still remain, rescue and translocation work, and a specialist conservation centre at the University of Viçosa in the state of Minas Gerais.
There is now a small captive population within Brazil that we are helping to develop.
Click here for further information on how we help the buffy tufted-ear marmoset.
Buffy-headed marmoset
Another of the “mountain marmosets”, the buffy-headed marmoset, Callithrix flaviceps, lives in the upland Atlantic forests in eastern Brazil. It is threatened by severe habitat loss and fragmentation.
As yet there is no captive breeding programme for this critically endangered marmoset. We are supporting surveys to find out where they still remain and conservation planning to develop the best strategies to use to save them from extinction.
Click here for further information on how we help the buffy-headed marmoset.
White-handed tamarin
The white-handed tamarin, also known as the silvery-brown tamarin or white-footed tamarin, lives only in the central Magdalena valley of Colombia.
This beautiful monkey’s habitat has been severely damaged. The tamarins are also often victims of the illegal pet trade. In the past, many confiscated pets ended up in rescue centres that did not know how to care for them, and the monkeys rarely survived or reproduced.
With the support of European zoos, rescue centres and zoos in Colombia have built up a small but healthy population of white-handed tamarins, managed by a studbook. Regular workshops at different locations in the country have helped a group of dedicated conservationists to work together for the conservation of this species.
We support field work to establish the current population of white-handed tamarins in Colombia, and continuing technical advice to the rescue centres and zoos working with them.
Click here for further information on how we help the white-handed tamarin.