Cotton-top tamarins move into new enclosure at Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary

Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier Heritage Park Zoological Society’s new enclosure for its three tamarins has air conditioning, heating, a sink, hot water, and two night houses.

By Paula Rhoden – The Daily Courier

Three cotton-top tamarins moved into a new enclosure at the Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary this past week.

The sanctuary obtained the tiny primates about 18 months ago from a university laboratory in Wisconsin.

Sanctuary Executive Director Pam McLaren said the lab shut down and the tamarins needed a new home.

“We agreed to take a non-breeding pair,” McLaren said.

Instead of a pair, the sanctuary received three females – a mother and her two daughters.

Quik, the mother, is 16 years old, while daughters Cindy and Ziggy are 6 years old.

The three tamarins living at the sanctuary are the descendents of the importation of more than 40,000 tamarins into the United States in the 1970s.

Tamarins have colons similar to humans, and companies imported the primates for medical testing, McLaren said.

Tamarins are native to Colombia. Deforestation and the destruction of the rainforest have reduced their habitat.

The primates are on the endangered species list.

“There are quite a few tamarins in captivity, but re-introduction efforts have not been successful,” McLaren said.

Several volunteers and an anonymous donor are responsible for the new enclosure.

“The outside area, three times the size of where they were living, is state of the art for this type of primate,” McLaren said.

The inside of the new home has two night houses, allowing officials to separate the tamarins if necessary, while allowing them to still see each other.

With air conditioning, heating, a sink and hot water, the new enclosure is a multi-functional exhibit. Sanctuary officials designed and built it in a manner so that could hold other primates in the future.

“We are happy to have the tamarins in their new enclosure and out on exhibit. Once the weather warms up, they will be out all the time.

“They love little children,” McLaren said. “We are lucky to have them. They are so much fun.”

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