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The Cotton-top
tamarin is a member of the New World primates. It is about
the size of a squirrel, weighing around 1 to 1.5 pounds. It
measures approximately 8 inches from its nose to the base
of its tail.
It is black in color with a shock
of white hair covering the top of its head and flowing down
onto its shoulders. It is this white outcropping of hair that
appropriately gives the Cotton-top tamarin its name.
The Cotton-top tamarin has
nonopposable thumbs and with the exception of the first toe
on each foot and hand, the nails are claw-like.
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Photo by Andi Apodaca |
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Cotton-top tamarins are
found only in northern Colombia extending from the eastern bank
of the Atrato River to the western bank of the Cauca and lower Magdalene
Rivers, bounded by the Colombian Caribbean coast to the north and
the beginning of the Cauca River and crossing the Serranía
de San Jerónimo to the south. |
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The Cotton-top tamarin
is found in the country of Colombia. It lives in secondary growth,
scrub and edge forests. It also may be found in dry tropical forests.
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Like other tamarins,
the Cotton-top tamarin eats sap, as well as fruits, nuts and nectar.
They occasionally hunt and eat insects (crickets, cockroaches, stick
insects, caterpillars, ants, beetles) and other small reptiles,
frogs and rodents. They even pounce on birds, killing then plucking
out the feathers before they eat the flesh.They have been observed
to lick sap dripping from trees but are not known to gouge holes
in trees to obtain sap as do marmosets. Tamarins can only forage
upon exudates (gum) that is already coming out of the tree by other
means (Kinzey, 1997). Unlike the marmosets, this species, like all
tamarins, has canines that are larger than the incisors, and their
teeth morphology does not allow them to gnaw into the bark for gum
(exudates) like the marmosets (Fleagle, 1988). They obtain their
water from the fruits they consume and have been observed to lick
the morning dew from leafs. |
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Ready To Jump
Photo by Andi Apodaca |
The Cotton-top tamarin
is diurnal (active during daylight hours). It lives in trees
and walks or runs quadrupedally (on all four feet) through
the forest. The Cotton-top tamarin is capable of leaping between
branches (Snowdon and Soini, 1988). |
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Cotton-top tamarins
live in groups of 2-12 individuals in the wild. Most captive and
wild groups appear to be monogamous, with only one reproductively
active male and female -- exceptions to this trend have been found
in wild populations. In the wild, the groups are highly territorial
with well defined boundaries. In captivity, females are more aggressive
and territorial, fights between females can lead to death. The male
has a courtship display where he dances around her and shows off
his mane while standing upright. Interestingly, only one female
gives birth to infants, while the other adult females in the group
are reproductively suppressed. These tiny primates typically give
birth to twins that weigh over 15% of the mother's body weight.
In captivity, females can give birth every 28 weeks, in the wild
infants are born once a year. |
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Much like modern
day families, everyone takes care of infants. Fathers, brothers
and sisters have all been observed carrying infants on their back.
In fact, this early infant caretaking experience is critical for
the future reproductive success for both males and females because
parental care in Cotton-tops is not instinctual -- it is learned.
If an animal is hand-reared or is removed from its family prior
to carrying infants on its back, it will not successfully rear its
own young! The father is actively involved in caring for them. He
helps during the birth, to receive and wash the newborns. The babies
can move on their own in 18-24 days although the father will carry
them until they are about 3 months, passing them to the mother only
for nursing. They are weaned in 8-10 weeks. |
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Cotton-tops are
listed as an Appendix I species by CITES, and as endangered in the
IUCN Red Data Book. There are about 2,000-3,000 left in the wild.
Some subspecies of the Cotton-top are critically endangered. They
are among the most heavily persecuted tamarins in South America.
They were hunted by locals for meat. In the 1960's until the early
1970's, they were trapped as laboratory specimens and for the pet
trade. They continue to be threatened by habitat destruction. Each
year more than 3,000 sq miles of tropical habitat are destroyed
in Colombia. With the current rate of forest destruction and with
the increase of Cotton-tops in the local pet trade, the population
is severely threatened. |
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Since 1987, INDERENA
(the flora and fauna protection agency of Colombia), the University
of Wisconsin, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center,
The Wilds and Disneyís Animal Kingdom have been involved
in a multi-disciplinary investigation of the reproductive biology
of the Cotton-top tamarin in Colombia. Long-term studies investigating
the differences in reproductive rates of wild and captive tamarins,
current rates of forest destruction, feeding ecology, and patterns
of dispersal have increased our understanding of this highly endangered
primate. Information generated from these studies are used by the
Colombian officials to assist in the long-range planning of conservation
programs in Colombia. |
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A reintroduction
program for this species does not appear warranted at this time.
Given the high rate of forest destruction and decrease in resources,
the reintroduction of captive animals to Colombia may put an even
greater stress of the long-term survival of the wild population.
Moreover, we must carefully consider the high incidence of colon
cancer that has been seen in the captive population and never observed
in the wild population. A thorough analysis of the etiology of the
disease must be available prior to the release of animals to Colombia.
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