Miniature monkeys fly long-haul to Jersey

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Five black lion tamarins are said to be "doing well" after their long-haul flight from Brazil to become the newest residents at Jersey Zoo.

Earlier this month they made an epic journey from Sao Paulo, in what is being described as "a vital step" for the survival of this species in captivity.

Once thought to be extinct, the black lion tamarin was rediscovered in the 1970s and is now only found in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

The miniature monkeys are endangered and Durrell believes there is a need to introduce new individuals to the breeding programme as the captive population in Europe has reached "precariously" low levels with just four individuals.

Durrell manages the international  studbook for black lion tamarins and hopes that it can now start to re-grow the population.

PICTURED: Dominic Wormell, Head of Mammals at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has been working with the species for nearly 30 years.

Dominic Wormell, Head of Mammals at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust said: “This import of black lion tamarins is vital for the international conservation programme for the species and represents a great collaboration of international institutions working together to secure the future of a species.”

“The tamarins fragmented wild population is under ever increasing pressure due to habitat destruction and the extreme effects of climate change, making the likelihood of a stochastic event such as a fire or outbreak of disease ever more likely in these small forest patches. The isolated populations in the wild have to be monitored and managed for them to survive.

“Tamarins isolated in a small forest fragment surrounded by intensive agriculture are to all intents and purposes, captive, and will die out without intervention.  We view the animals in captivity as a population in a safe forest fragment, a population that can be managed closely and in the future integrated back into the wild.”