We are in luck. The young pair of cotton-headed marmosets has finally managed to breed, an indicator of the welfare of the species. These marmosets are critically endangered, the highest threat to an animal species before being considered extinct.
For our veterinarians this birth is an advance because it means that the previous offspring that are now two years old have learned to raise a new-born. The breeding pair met in 2015 with the arrival of Eva who, together with Carmelo, a marmoset that already lived in Terra Natura Benidorm, had their first baby two years ago.
On the other hand, after five years of waiting, at this birth, is added the breeding of pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea), considered the smallest primate species on the planet. The offspring of this species usually weigh about 16 grams at birth and the average size of adults barely reaches 13 centimetres. The little one has already start to let go of the backs of her parents after overcoming the first weeks of life.
In many species of marmosets both the mother and the father take care of the little one. At the same time, older siblings also help in this process to gain experience, although every few minutes they returned to the mother to be breastfed.
After three months of age the offspring become definitively independent of their parents.
Both species of marmosets are arboreal, so they do not go down to the forest floor. While the pygmy is distributed in several Latin American countries, the cotton head population is restricted to a jungle area of ​​Colombia.