PROJECT TAMARIN
For more information:
www.csew.com/proyectotiti/
Project Tamarin is a multidisciplinary conservation program that combines field research, education programs, and community programs to make the conservation of natural resources economically feasible for local communities in Columbia.
The Cotton-Top Tamarin is one of the most endangered primates in the world. The species was declared endangered in 1973 following the exportation of 30,000 tamarins to the United States for biomedical research.
The Cotton-Top Tamarin is a tiny one pound monkey that is found only in the tropical forest of northern Columbia. Cotton-Top Tamarins live in groups of 2 to 12 individuals and spend their day feeding on fruits, insects, small lizards, and an occasional tasty bird’s egg or sweet sap from a tree. Females generally give birth to twins once a year and everyone in the family helps to take care of the infants. Moms, dads, brothers, and sisters all help care, feed, and play with the infants while they are young.
Today the greatest threat to the survival of the Cotton-Top Tamarin is deforestation for agriculture, fuel, and housing, in addition to their collection for the local pet trade in Columbia. There are only two national parks and one protected reserve within the range of the Cotton-Top Tamarin.
In an effort to direct public attention to illegal capture of wildlife for the pet trade, Project Tamarin encouraged villagers to trade in their sling-shots, commonly used to hunt and capture tamarins for the pet trade, for a stuffed toy.
Education and public awareness programs have become a regular part of the classroom education in the local village schools. Posters were distributed and now decorate the walls of many homes, and children grow up with a sense of pride in protecting the Cotton-Top Tamarin.
In an effort to both decrease forest consumption and improve the health of the women in the village, Project Tamarin worked with the local people to create bindes to cook their food. This reduced the amount of wood needed for cooking and reduced the harm to women’s lungs from cooking over an open fire.
For more information:
www.csew.com/proyectotiti/
