Cotton-top Tamarin
(aka Pinché Tamarin)
Sanguinus oedipus

This striking little monkey gets its name from the fantastic plume of fluffy white hair that encircles its black face. Ideally suited to life in the trees, their long limbs, claw-like nails, and a long tail allow for leaping, running on all fours, or climbing like a squirrel.

What They Eat
The cotton-top tamarin eats fruit, insects, new leaves or buds, small lizards, and nectar. Its teeth are adapted to penetrate tree bark to induce the flow of tree sap, an important food source.

Where They Live
These small primates spend most of their time in trees-running and leaping among forest vines and branches. Active during the day, they live in both humid and dry tropical forests in an extremely small native range in northwest Columbia.

What They Do
Cotton-top groups include 3-9 members; a mated pair and their offspring. Females give birth (usually twins) once each year. All group members help raise the young, although the group’s adult male usually carries the babies. Home ranges of neighboring groups overlap, and each strongly defends its immediate area.

How They’re Doing
This species of tamarin is highly endangered. Their habitat is threatened by deforestation for farming, firewood, and housing, and from flooding due to hydroelectric development. They are also highly prized in the illegal pet trade. The size of the current population is unclear, with estimates as low as 6000 individuals.

Cotton-top Tamarin

When alarmed or excited, cotton-top tamarins raise the hair on the crown of their head and stand up tall to make themselves look bigger.

Cotton-tops use facial expressions and at least 17 different vocal sounds to express themselves: trills (for solo activity), clucks (for foraging), long calls (for caution), and whines (for contact).

Columbia is one of the most biologically diverse countries, second only to Brazil in overall plant and animal species.

As a group, cotton-tops work together to care for their young. Adult “helpers” stay in the family and learn to parent before having babies of their own.

Things you can do

Don't buy exotic pets captured from the wild. Ask stores how they acquire their animals and buy only “captive bred” species.

Avoid using trees harvested illegally from the rainforest. When you shop, request wood products that are sustainably grown (FSC certified) and legally harvested. Purchase used, reclaimed, or recycled lumber whenever possible.

Your visit to the Zoo helps support our conservation programs. You can also sponsor an animal at the Zoo.

 

 

Cotton-top Tamarin

More than 75% of this species’ original habitat has been lost. The few populations that remain are small and restricted to isolated areas. Efforts are currently underway to get an accurate count of the number of cotton-tops remaining in the wild.

Things the Zoo's done/doing

Proyecto Tití (Project Tamarin) is a conservation project designed to protect cotton-top tamarins and develop local community advocates that promote conservation in Columbia. The Minnesota Zoo has supported Proyecto Titi’s efforts to conduct a complete census of the remaining wild cotton-top population.

In captivity, the cotton-top tamarin is managed for breeding purposes by a Species Survival Plan (SSP). Under this plan, the coordinated efforts of several zoos throughout the United States help maintain the captive gene pool for the future aid of the wild population. The Minnesota Zoo currently participates in 23 SSP programs, including the Cotton-top Tamaran SSP.