Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. Today we are taking a walk into Nursery 2 and looking at the red-handed tamarin. The red-handed tamarin is a native of South America and dwells in wooded areas north of the Amazon River. As you can see from this week’s photo it gets its name from the reddish brown fur on its paws.
Red-handed tamarins belong to a group which are referred to as “New World Monkeys.” This is a distinction given to monkeys discovered in Mexico, Central and South America. They all share similar characteristics. Some of those characteristics for example are that they are small to medium-sized primates which typically have long tails. Red-handed tamarins are small and only weigh a pound.
These little monkeys are omnivores. They will eat plants, fruits, flowers, eggs, frogs, nectar, insects and small reptiles. Red-handed tamarins live in small groups of 4-15 members. These small groups of monkeys are referred to as a troop, a barrel, a carload, a cartload or a tribe.
The red-handed tamarin is a great climber and can jump great lengths. They can easily jump from trees as high as 60 feet to the ground without getting hurt. The red-handed tamarin is also very quick with a top recorded speed of 24 miles per hour.
Only one female in the troop will mate during the breeding season. The gestation period for this lone mother is 140-170 days. The mother will typically give birth to two babies. The entire group looks after the babies. The father is the primary caretaker for the young and only defers to the mother for nursing.
Timbavati Wildlife Park is teeming with animals and educational information. For a limited time we have our “Fall Combo Ticket.” This gives you our General Admission plus a Safari Train Ride for one great price. Visit our website today and plan your visit. Here’s a video with more great red-handed tamarin facts.
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