Six small golden lion tamarin monkeys now are roaming the grounds of Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
The uncaged monkeys will wander the wooded area of the Beaver Valley Trail each day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. as part of the annual golden lion tamarin watch, which has been conducted every summer for more than 20 years.
This summer, two adult tamarins, their 7-month-old twins and their 1-month-old twins will participate in the exhibit. Volunteers trained to record the monkeys’ behavior will be on hand each day now through mid-August.
“It has been one of the most popular exhibits at the National Zoo for the past 20 years,” said John Gibbons, spokesman for the National Zoo. “This is one of the rare opportunities for visitors to not simply observe, but be part of an exhibit.”
Visitors looking for the monkeys should ask a volunteer with a clipboard, zoo spokeswoman Sarah Taylor said, because they will be monitoring the monkeys. The tamarins tend to stay within a few 100 feet of their nest box, but they are fitted with radio collars so scientists can track them. Scientists also can sound a recorded tamarin territory call near their nest box to lure the monkeys back.
The National Zoo launched a collaborative research project to help improve the breeding of zoo tamarins in 1975. The zoo was the principal breeder of the species and led the species’ reintroduction to the wild, according to a news release from the zoo.
The free-ranging exhibit originally began as a way to prepare the captive-bred monkeys for reintroduction into the forest.
As a result of collaboration among zoos, conservation organizations and Brazilian governmental agencies, there are at least 1,500 tamarins in the wild now, according to the National Zoo, up from 200 about 30 years ago.
Panda’s pregnancy status is unclear
The giant panda Mei Xiang’s pregnancy status is still unclear, according to National Zoo spokeswoman Sarah Taylor. “There is still no definitive panda pregnancy test,” Taylor said.
The ultrasound procedure does not work well on pandas because their cubs are so tiny — between 3 and 5 ounces and approximately 8 inches long. The last time Mei Xiang was pregnant, said Taylor, she was so restless that veterinarians couldn’t even keep her still long enough to get any visible results.
Zoo scientists won’t know if she’s pregnant until maybe a day or two in advance, if they’re lucky, Taylor said. – Mike Shawe
