A new addition to the Marwell Zoo near Winchester, England, is great news for a species that’s critically endangered in the wild. Yesterday, on Endangered Species Day 2024, the zoo announced the recent birth of an adorable cotton-top tamarin.
The baby, a male, joins his family of mom, dad, and two older siblings born at the zoo last May. Zoo staff are asking for the public’s help in naming the adorable baby.
“Keepers have decided to continue using names from The Addams Family,” reads a post caption from the Instagram announcement. “Will he be a Fester, Lurch or Gomez?”
You can cast your vote for the baby’s name on the zoo’s Facebook page.
Watch a video of the critically endangered tamarin baby and mother here:
Cotton-top tamarins are critically endangered in the wild due to habitat loss in their natural range in northwestern Colombia. According to the IUCN, “the annual loss of forest cover in all five Colombian departments in which this species is found (Antioquia, Atlantico, Bolivar, Cordoba and Sucre) has increased dramatically over the last three years, doubling and even tripling the rate for the previous three years.”
The population is also decreasing as humans illegally capture these adorable animals for the pet trade. Conservation programs at zoos worldwide contribute to the preservation of species threatened by human activities in the wild.
Check out more photos of the baby and mother here: