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The Lincoln Children’s Zoo announced the birth of two cotton-top tamarin babies Monday morning.
Courtesy: Lincoln Children’s Zoo
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The Lincoln Children’s Zoo announced the birth of two cotton-top tamarin babies Monday morning. The cotton-top tamarin is a small New World monkey and is a critically endangered species.
The two cotton-top tamarin babies were born on April 14 to mom, Challa, and dad, Emison. They also have a sister, Doug, a one-year-old female cotton-top tamarin.
“The birth of these cotton-top tamarin twins is incredibly important for animal conservation efforts as we see the population of this critically endangered species continue to decrease,” Evan Killeen, Lincoln Children’s Zoo CEO, said.
The Lincoln Children’s Zoo said it is still to early to determine the sex of the two babies. They will release the sex and choose names at a later date.
Guests can visit the twins and the rest of the cotton-top tamarin troop in the Animal Kingdom Building. Guests will be able to witness both parents taking turns carrying the infants, with the babies being on and off their parents for about six months.
Cotton-top tamarins live in groups of eight to 18 with one dominant breeding pair, according to the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. The rest of the troop is made up of offspring and a few subordinates and the troop helps care for the infants.
The cotton-top tamarins face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, Lincoln Children’s Zoo said. The cotton-top tamarin population continues to decrease, with only about 6,000 individuals left in the wild.
