A cotton top surprise

Incredible camera footage of a rare Cotton Top Tamarin monkey being born has been captured by keepers.

The birth of the infant which weighed around 40 grams when it was born – the weight of an average egg – has been announced to coincide with International Day of the Cotton Top Tamarin – 15 August – and is now just big enough to be seen in its enclosure clinging to mum or dad.

Both mum, Maxi, and dad Rico can be seen at the birth; this critically endangered species co-parent the young from the outset.

The arrival is one of only 46 born around the world in the last 12 months.

Keeper Abbi Wheeler said: “We weigh Maxi and Rico weekly as part of our usual checks and we saw her weight gradually increasing. The Cotton-Top Tamarin usually sleeps all night, but she was awake for an hour one night which sent an alert via the camera system as it was unusual; when we watched we saw her make a jumping movement and we saw a baby climbing around her side and cling straight onto her fur.

“They share parenting as carrying the baby takes up a lot of energy so mum holds while feeding and then dad carries the infant. It is really exciting. Maxi and Rico are the first breeding pair at Longleat and they are critically endangered as there are only around 6000 in the wild.”

It is not yet known the gender of the new arrival which is part of the European breeding programme. Longleat is part of many European endangered species programmes which help manage populations for conservation.

It is expected the infant will be fully weaned at around 15 weeks old.

Says Abbi: “If guests look really closely in their enclosure within Animal Adventure, they will be able to see Maxi and Rico and the teeny tiny baby being carried by one of them.”