Black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) - Miniature Monkeys - Chester Zoo - 14/07/2013.
For those that know me, this is a species I've been cursed with failing to see for about 2-3 years, just missing them at each collection I visited that has housed them. Now, after three visits to the zoo and several trips to the enclosure, I have finally seen not one, but both.
We got to the enclosure around 5pm [with the intention of getting picked up from the staff entrance at 5:30pm]. No sign and I was getting grumpy. Got to about 5:15 and we thought we'd best get gone and I get a phone call saying that my parents were running late and we'd be picked up a bit later. Excellent, I thought. I can stay a little longer.
Almost gave up hope though, whining to my wonderful-for-putting-up-with-me-girlfriend about how unfair things are. Then a child looks into the enclosure and says to his folks 'there it is, can just see the tail sticking out of the nest box.'
I thought nothing for the first moment, not daring to hope. After all, this was a child, a typical zoo visitor. He'd probably just seen some vine or branch.
So I look into the enclosure where the kid was pointing, and I see this black tail hanging out of the box with a wonderful little face staring out at us. I couldn't get a picture before it put its head back in.
We waited a minute longer, it was awake so maybe it would peep out again. It did, and I got pictures and it went back in. For the next 5-10 minutes it kept peeking out while we stayed perfectly still, each time it came a little further out. Then that magical moment it left the nest box.
The camera button, naturally, was nearly ablaze. And then the second one ventured out as well. Brilliant. About 5:40pm we left, would have missed them if we had stuck to the original times. Never have I been so happy that a lift was late.
And so here is the result, my best picture of the species that has evaded me since I began hoping to see one in mid 2011.
