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Chester Zoo announces birth of ‘exceptionally rare’ twin monkeys
The zoo's new duo are part of one of the rarest primate species on Earth.
Emily Sergeant -
12th August 2024 
A pair of “exceptionally rare” twin monkeys have been born at Chester Zoo, and they’re helping to safeguard their species from extinction.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo’s new duo are cotton-top tamarin monkeys, and they arrived to parents, Leo and Treat, following a five-month pregnancy, weighing just 40g at birth and measuring only 10cm from their heads to the tips of their tails.
Keepers at Chester Zoo have compared the twins to “the size of “golf balls”.
Called cotton-top tamarins due to their striking mane of white fur that starts at their forehead and runs over their shoulders, resembling a fluffy cotton ball, conservations say these monkeys are “instantly-recognisable” for their unique appearance.
The miniature monkeys are native to a small area in northern Colombia, where sadly only 5% of their original habitat remains intact due to mass logging for the agriculture, paper, and timber industries.
Unfortunately though, due to their “instantly-recognisable” appearance, this has led to a major decline in numbers, Chester Zoo has revealed, as they are often captured for the illegal wildlife trade and sold as pets.
As a result, the species is listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the International Union of Conservation and Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of the world’s most threatened species, as it’s estimated that just 2,000 remain in the wild.
This makes them one of the rarest primate species on Earth.
“It’s wonderful to see the two tiny babies clinging to mum and dad as they leap from tree to tree,” explained Mike Jordan, who is the Animal and Plant Director at Chester Zoo.
“When cotton-top tamarins are born, they look just like adults, except they’re even teenier – around the size of golf balls.
“Mum and dad have been sharing parental duties, and as a result the little ones are both thriving. It’s still early days, so the babies are too tiny for us to confidently determine if each of them is male or female but, in a few months time, we’ll know for sure when they grow in confidence and start to branch out and explore the treetops on their own.”
Read more:
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Conservationists at Chester Zoo are part of a Europe-wide plan to prevent the species from disappearing altogether.
Featured Image – Chester Zoo
