COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – On Thursday, the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden introduced guests to one of the world\u2019s most endangered primate species that will now live in the park.<\/p>\n
The zoo announced a new pair of cotton-top tamarins, Pepita and Caqueta, to the Riverbanks Conservation Outpost (RCO) on Thursday afternoon. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting,\u201d said Ryan Jones, Gorilla and Small Mammal Supervisor at Riverbanks. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about a new species; it\u2019s about meeting new individuals. We get to learn their personalities, and that\u2019s what makes it fun.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pepita, a six-month-old female, found a home at Riverbanks after being confiscated from the illegal pet trade. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe was being raised with the intention of being a pet, and that does not work well for nonhuman primates,\u201d says Dr. Martha Weber, Vice President of Animal Care at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. \u201cWhen she arrived here at two months old, she was malnourished, and we had to nurse her back to health.\u201d <\/p>\n
Once Pepita recovered, it was clear she would need a companion due to the social nature of cotton-top tamarins.<\/p>\n
The zoo, working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums\u2019 (AZA) Species Survival Plan\u00ae (SSP), matched the young tamarin with 12-year-old Caqueta from Buttonwood Park Zoo in Massachusetts, experience raising young. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is that she will take little Pepita under her wing and show her the ins and outs of being a tamarin,\u201d Dr. Weber added. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting,\u201d said Ryan Jones, Gorilla and Small Mammal Supervisor at Riverbanks. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about a new species; it\u2019s about meeting new individuals. We get to learn their personalities, and that\u2019s what makes it fun.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cotton-top tamarins are one of the most endangered species of primates in the world. According to the Smithsonian Zoo, fewer than 6,000 are left in the wild due to deforestation, habitat degradation, and trafficking through the illegal pet trade.<\/p>\n
The zoo\u2019s Bridge to the Wild expansion includes a future primate forest habitat that will expand capacity to care for primates surrendered or confiscated from the illegal pet trade.<\/p>\n
Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter<\/a>, and download our apps<\/a>. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WIS. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – On Thursday, the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden introduced guests to one of the world\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[4,2408,192,4934,4932,4931,4933,4935,79,4930],"class_list":{"0":"post-588669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breaking-news-video","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-live-speeches","12":"tag-live-updates","13":"tag-live-video","14":"tag-press-conference","15":"tag-real-time-coverage","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-video-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}