Colchester Zoo has welcomed the arrival of tiny twin tamarins after the successful pairing of partners Sooty and Satine.
The zoo’s golden lion tamarin pairing, who are both small squirrel-sized monkeys, have welcomed their first offspring in the form of a tiny set of twins.
The exciting news comes just hours after the zoo announced the devastating death of one of its cheetah cubs, which was found by zookeepers on a routine inspection on Friday, May 8.
This is Sooty and Satine’s first offspring and the tamarins have taken to parenthood well, proving to be very attentive parents. Dad Sooty has been taking a hands-on approach, helping to carry and care for one of the youngsters alongside mum.
Sadly, this species is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and so not only is this great news for Colchester Zoo, but also for the conservation of their species.
Sooty was born at Colchester Zoo in 2013 and was joined by Satine in July 2019 from La Palmyre Zoo in France. From their first meeting it was clear that Sooty was smitten with his new companion – leading to the pair creating a family of four.
Tamarins usually live in monogamous pairs like Sooty and Satine and it is common for them to usually rear twins.
This particular species of tamarin grow up to only 40cm in length and they have a silky golden coat, making it even harder to spot the new arrivals as they are camouflaged against mum and dad’s bodies.
They also have a mane of hair which is seen in all the sub-species of lion tamarins.
The new family live at the Worlds Apart exhibit within the zoo and share their home with two sloths.
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