One of the marmosets in the Rainforest
2010 is well started now, and we are in the depths of winter. As I’ve mentioned before, it is a quiet time at the zoo and outside, not much is happening. But inside, things are definitely moving ahead full speed.
Right now we are in the middle of some very important introductions. We are bringing together a small group of marmosets for our rainforest exhibit.
Now – the Rainforest has had marmosets in it for several years, but last summer we were down to 1 animal. Like most primates, marmosets prefer to live in groups, so we set about finding more animals to rebuild our little troop. We were very lucky and did find a couple. The problem is that primate troops have a very strict dominance structure, and disruption of that structure can causing serious injury to new troop members. Knowing this, zoo staff decided things would need to move very slowly, and a plan put into place.
First, we gave the new female a birth control implant. Marmoset troops are matriarchal and male dominance is based on mating. By eliminating the potential for mating, it would hopefully prevent fighting between the males.
Next we took the lowest ranked male and introduced him to the female. It was our hope that by allowing the female and low ranked male to establish a strong bond there would be less fighting and hopefully fewer injuries when full contact introductions began.
Once the bond was well established, the pair moved into the rainforest into what we like to call a ‘howdy’ cage. In this way, the marmosets can get to know each other without being able to cause each other injury.
Recently we decided it was time to give them unprotected access to one another. We moved the group into a howdy cage set up in the animal treatment facility to start the intros. For three days we had volunteers monitoring the marmosets’ interactions, ready to step in and separate the animals if it became necessary, but all our worries were for naught. The group is now interacting well, and we hope to move them back into the rainforest soon.
Melanie S – Curator of Education
