Critically endangered baby monkey born at Zoo Boise, visitors can go see it now
.jpg "Zoo Boise’s new baby cotton-top tamarin on top of its parents back. The zoo recently matched parents Eddy and Mimi as part of the Species Survival Plan Program.")
Zoo Boise recently welcomed a new member to its family: a new baby cotton-top tamarin. The critically endangered species is known for its gray and white body fur with a shock of white fur on the head.
The zoo announced on Monday morning that two of its cotton-top tamarins, Eddy and Mimi, became parents to the new baby on Feb. 17.
“Both mom and baby are doing well and adjusting to life at the zoo,” Zoo Boise director Gene Peacock said in a press release. “This is an exciting addition to our zoo family and one that will help further our conservation mission and our work to support endangered species.”
Guests can visit the new cotton-top tamarin family in Zoo Boise’s Small Animal Kingdom. The zoo asks that visitors keep their voices down when visiting to limit any extra stress on the mother and her baby.
Baby cotton-top tamarins are known to cling onto their parents until they are old enough to move around on their own, according to the zoo. Additionally, the parents are extremely protective of their young, meaning zoo officials are yet to conduct a veterinary exam on the baby to determine its sex.
The cotton-top tamarin is a small monkey about the size of a squirrel native to the northwest region of Colombia, and is classified as critically endangered by The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. That’s just one level above “extinct in the wild,” which is the last classification before an animal is considered extinct.
According to the IUCN Red List, only 2,000 mature cotton-top tamarins remain in the world and their population is decreasing.
Zoo Boise is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, with over 6,000 other organizations around the world that are committed to wildlife conservation and education.
The zoo matched the parents, Eddy and Mimi, via the Species Survival Plan Program, which identifies potential matches between endangered species among its member zoos.
Eddy arrived at Zoo Boise from Rolling Hills Zoo in Kansas, where he fathered another cotton-top tamarin. The newest addition to Zoo Boise is the first child that Eddy and Mimi have had together.
