The Great Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins by Sandra Markle Hardback Book: 40 pages
Excellent book with the most beautiful photographs of the Golden Lion Tamarins a once nearly extinct population of monkeys with beautiful long golden orange fur and long tails for balance and maneuvering through the trees that are also covered in the colors of sunset like the rest of their fur, gorgeous. This species’ habitat is only found in Brazil and in the 1960s scientists thought the population had depleted to 200 or less and began to elicit help to save them from the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums to take them into capativity in Zoos throughout the world in order to save them from total extinction and hopefully to promote good environements for breeding thereby bringing the population back to safe numbers. This was in 1966, however, the captive Golden Lion Tamarins did not procreate in the Zoo environments. In 1972 experts in the Zoological field met to discuss how to work out this problem. That same year, Devra Kleinman joined the staff at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The problem of the dwindling population of these magnificent creatures was championed by Devra. She worked ceaselessly with other scientists and zoologists and ecologists both in the U.S. and Brazil. Devra decided to study these creatures in their natural habitats to see what the Zoos what it was about their natural habitats that the zoos were not mimicking well enough to promote breeding. Turns out the zoos were keeping the tamarins in large groups as they did chimpanzees but in the wild Devra found that tamarins did not live in large groups. In the forests of Brazil researchers found that tamarins lived in family groups but small groups and once the babies were about 18 month old their parents chased them out of their home habitat and this caused them to seek out mates by calling out when they were solo in the wild. The females would call out and a male would answer then the female would travel through the forest to find the male responding to her call. They would either mate and start their own family group. Sometimes family groups were found to include males or females that did not mate but continued to be a part of the family unit (we call them bachelors and bachelorettes – Aunts and Uncles called on for babysitting because they were free of kids of their own) and who helped to care for the younger ones and helped to teach them what to eat and what not to eat because it is poisonous. The family teaches the babies how to avoid predators and when to run and the call to make or respond to by fleeing if danger is sensed (birds of prey above or a rodent like creature called a tayra that ambushes tamarins in their resting places in the night. Tamarins tend to find holes in trees and put the babies in first, then the adults pile in on top of them to keep the babies and each other warm and protected from predators in the night. Tamarins are active during the day and sleep as much as possible during the night. A fascinating book describing the plight of the tamarins trying to survive in a depleting jungle area. Finally forest bridges are being planted to join cleared areas to jungle areas so the tamarins can explore further afield as their normal ventures are across a 32 miles radius thought with land clearing so prevalent in Brazil now, their habitat is decreasing. Fortunately concerned environmentalists across the globe are volunteering to plant trees conducive to their needs and native to the Brazilian forest and others concerned who cannot be there in person but want to help are donating money to purchase land for the tamarins to live on and buying back some of the cleared land for planting tree bridges for the tamrins to cross from one forest to another so the family groups can spread out and the tamarins will mate with partners from other family groups so as not to promote defects by continuing the genes of mating within a single family group (its been found one problem with mating within one’s own family group promotes sickness and deficiencies in breathing, etc. (Hence why the Amish are expanding and marrying into settlements outside a single township to bring in new blood so to speak.) Great book, I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the cause for animal survival regardless the species. A beginning in depth yet easy to grasp explanation of a very real environmental issue happening more and more today. Very relevant to survival of all species and a good look into how progress sometimes causes casualties when we forget to take in the whole picture related to our actions. Bravo Sandra Markle. We need wake up calls like this.
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