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The new cotton-top tamarin habitat at the San Antonio Zoo. Credit: Courtesy \/ San Antonio Zoo<\/p>\nSome of San Antonio\u2019s furriest residents just got new digs.<\/p>\n
Five tamarins at the San Antonio Zoo moved into a larger, open air habitat. That means the zoo\u2019s era of primates in cages is officially over.<\/p>\n
\u201cProviding the animals in our care with enriching, natural habitats is at the heart of everything we do,\u201d said Tim Morrow, the San Antonio Zoo\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cWith this new tamarin space, we\u2019re not only improving the habitat for the cotton-top tamarins but continuing our focus on animal wellbeing, habitat design innovation, and modernization.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the culmination of a multiyear effort to move monkeys, apes and other primates from cages to better habitats. That included closing the Monkey House in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, reaching fully cageless primate habitats reflects years of progress and a deep dedication to giving every animal the best home possible,\u201d Morrow added.<\/p>\n
The new enclosure for the zoo\u2019s cotton-top tamarins will be 180% larger, according to a San Antonio Zoo press release, and have more opportunities for foraging, movement and social interaction.<\/p>\n
The new cotton-top tamarin habitat at the San Antonio Zoo. Credit: Courtesy \/ San Antonio Zoo<\/p>\n
Cotton-top tamarins are a critically endangered species from South America that spend most of their lives in forest canopies, according to the Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute<\/a>. There are roughly 6,000 of the monkeys left in the wild.<\/p>\n Four females and one male cotton-top tamarin live at the San Antonio Zoo.<\/p>\n