The world’s rarest monkey twins have been born at a zoo and they weigh as much as an egg.
The cotton-top tamarins are among the most at-risk primates in the world.
There are fewer than 2,000 individuals believed to live in the wild.
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The critically endangered monkeys are native to northern Colombia.
The pair were born at Newquay Zoo, Cornwall.
The twins were born to first-time parents Febe, aged two, and Santiago, three, who moved there in 2023.
The palm-sized primates each weigh about the same as a chicken egg at birth and cling tightly to their parents, as reported by What’s The Jam.
In their natural habitat, cotton-top tamarins live in tightly bonded social groups where the care of the young is a shared responsibility.
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This behaviour, known as cooperative care, involves multiple group members contributing to the rearing of offspring.
Maternal behaviours in tamarins are not solely instinctive—they are learned through observation and experience within the group.
Such collective caregiving is critical to the survival and healthy development of infants, especially in the early stages of life.
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Senior animal keeper, Emma Sweetland, said: “These twins are not just adorable additions to our zoo family, they represent a vital step forward in the fight against species extinction.”
“It’s incredibly special to see Febe and Santiago co-parenting so naturally.
“Their attentiveness is heart-warming and these births are a significant milestone for the conservation of this critically endangered species.”
The tamarins are named after their crown of fluffy white hair which stands on end when they get excited.
They are listed as critically endangered – the most at-risk category – on the Red List, which records the conservation status of all species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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