“Beautiful” monkeys threatened by deforestation are increasingly found injured on the side of roads in Brazil – something a leading conservationist who spent 34 years at Durrell is aiming to address with the region’s first tamarin rehabilitation enclosures.
Dominic Wormell set up the Tamarin Trust in 2023 after having worked with pied tamarins since the 1990s.
He previously established a captive assurance population for the critically endangered animals, but was inspired to help address the “crisis” that golden-headed lion tamarins are facing during a recent trip to Bahia state in the east of Brazil.
Mr Wormell explained that the “beautiful” monkeys face dangerous journeys as they search for food, including crossing roads and power lines, and there are currently no facilities to help injured or electrocuted monkeys in the region.
He said: “We decided that the most immediate need is to build some specific rehabilitation enclosures and facilities that will allow rescued tamarins to recover properly and regain their strength before attempts are made to release them back into the wild.
“Crucially, the initiative will link with field researchers who are studying wild tamarin populations, making sure that the tamarins are released in the correct forest habitat that has the resources to sustain them, and that they will be monitored closely.”
Mr Wormell explained that the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust had supported the region, purchasing a “large tract of forest” where tamarins still live.
But, he said, “in most of the rest of their range, the monkeys are suffering due to changing agricultural practices”.
Mr Wormell added: “The rural forests where shade-grown coffee was once produced, and which supported tamarins, are changing into cattle ranches and more intensive coffee plantations.
“This is very bad news, as all the forest is destroyed.”
He said: “More and more tamarins are being found injured on the side of roads or electrocuted, and are having to be rescued.”
With no specific facilities available, the Tamarin Trust committed to building what Mr Wormell said were the region’s first tamarin rehabilitation enclosures.
This is set to be done in collaboration with a local university, a “passionate” vet and local NGOs, as well as with the support of donors Michele and Paul Masterton.
This is to be followed by a “major” workshop on marmotset and tamarin conservation, held in Ilhéus in Brazil.
“There are also plans to install canopy bridges over dangerous road crossings, giving tamarins safe passage and reconnecting isolated habitats,” Mr Wormell added.