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Monkey business: rare primates given helping hand (Image © Torquay Herald Express)
Tiny primates given helping human hand
Two of the rarest monkeys in the world are being hand-reared by zoo keepers after being rejected by their parents.
The tiny pied tamarin siblings – natives of the Amazon rainforest – have been receiving round-the-clock care since they were born on December 31, with staff at Paignton Zoo in Devon taking turns to “monkeysit” them at night.
The male, named Chewie, weighed 53 grams at birth, while the female, called Padmé, tipped the scales at 41 grams. They were fed initially on glucose solution then diluted baby formula, building up to near normal strength after five days.
Senior Head Mammal Keeper Julian Chapman said: “Genetically it is important that we get youngsters from this pair and continue their bloodline. The species is critically endangered – every youngster is vital to the future of the species.”
Pied tamarins are the most critically endangered of the all the Amazon primates and, according to the IUCN, face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the very near future.
The tiny infants currently spend all day within sight and smell of their parents, clinging to a small piece of carpet inside an incubator. It is hoped the family can be reintroduced after six weeks. To find out more, click on the thumbnails in the gallery below.

In pictures: pied tamarin newborns given a helping hand

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park keepers are hand-rearing these two tiny critically endangered primates after they were abandoned by their parents.Primate keeper Andrew Fry rescued the pied tamarin babies at birth on New Year’s Eve when their mother started to show signs of neglecting them.The newborns were rushed to the zoo’s state-of-the-art vet centre, where they were placed in a heated veterinary incubator. The youngsters are now receiving round-the-clock care and attention from their keepers. They are being fed every 2 to 4 hours, with staff sharing the task of taking the babies home at night. Pied tamarins, like this adult here, are classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red Data Book listing, which means they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the very near future.
Save our Seas: marine environment 'on its knees'
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Britain’s marine environment – our life support system – is on its knees, in desperate need of some “tender loving care”, a report has warned. Conservation experts from around the UK have compiled a list of 15 marine areas urgently in need of protection, each considered vital for the preservation of at least one species of marine animal or plant.
Prime slime: the world's rarest amphibians (Image © Naomi Dook/ZSL)
Prime slime: the world's rarest amphibians
They may not be cute or cuddly, but these weird and wonderful amphibians have an important place in evolutionary history and are now in urgent need of protection.
Head-to-head: Britain's nuclear revival (Image © Chris Radburn/PA Wire)
Head-to-head: Britain's nuclear revival
The government has approved the construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations, reigniting the debate over the controversial power source. Here, two experts go head-to-head on one of today’s most divisive issues.
Chilling prognosis for Antarctic penguins (Image © WWF/Fritz Polking)
Chilling prognosis for Antarctic penguins
Melting sea ice and overfishing have triggered a dangerously rapid decline in penguin populations on the Antarctic peninsula – a direct result of global warming, warns a new report from the WWF.
In pictures: rare tiger cub 'could save species' (Image © PA)
In pictures: rare tiger cub 'could save species'
This tiny 1kg bundle of fur and teeth is the potential saviour of a critically endangered species of tiger. The male South China tiger cub was born at a reserve in South Africa's Free State and is the first to be bred outside China.
Revealed: the human face of climate change (Image © Christian Aid/Caroline Waterman)
Revealed: the human face of climate change
The twin forces of climate change and crippling poverty are fusing in the lives of the world’s poorest people – a deadly combination, warns a new report from Christian Aid.

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