Correct me if I am wrong but primates can leap and jump,and I know I have seen Tamarins clear greater distance than the plastic on the trees,so I for one will not be worrying about a Tamarin falling out of the tree,and not been able to get back!
Thanks for the imperative info. I guess we can all sleep soundly then
Perhaps you should inform Twycross that primates can leap/ jump and there is no need for the ugly plastic, so they should take it down (!)
Thanks for the imperative info. I guess we can all sleep soundly then
Perhaps you should inform Twycross that primates can leap/ jump and there is no need for the ugly plastic, so they should take it down (!)
Its only been done so that people think that Tamarins cannot get out of the trees!But then from my experience an animal will stay where it feels safest,even when a tree has brought down the fence on its enclosure!That place is normally its own enclosure or nest box.
I remember visiting Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as a small child and there being Tamarins in a completely open woodland exhibit. The keeper explained that Tamarins have very small territories and because they were fed regularly never needed to venture out too far in search of food.
Is that exhibit still at Durrell?
It will be interesting to see if the Emperor Tamarins at Twycross ever bother to use the trees if they are fed in the primate house.
I also wonder if birds of prey are common around Twycross as well.
I remember visiting Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as a small child and there being Tamarins in a completely open woodland exhibit. The keeper explained that Tamarins have very small territories and because they were fed regularly never needed to venture out too far in search of food.
Is that exhibit still at Durrell?
It will be interesting to see if the Emperor Tamarins at Twycross ever bother to use the trees if they are fed in the primate house.
I also wonder if birds of prey are common around Twycross as well.
We currently have pied tamarins, golden lion tamarins and emperor tamarins 'free' in the woodlands. They are recalled in the evening (unless the weather is particularly nice) and have sheds they can retreat into if they need to. We had silvery marmosets in the same area until this year, but these are now off-show as they are elderly and subject to hassle from the pieds!
The emperors travel as far as the manor house, down to the Madagascar wetlands exhibit and even chase the white-naped cranes (risky business). The golden lions usually stay in their small territory and the pieds occasionally conduct raids on the golden shed. Is truly fascinating, and allowing them to display their natural, territorial behaviours is one of the best forms of enrichment, it's felt.
We too have ropes, but our woodland is much denser, and has thousand-plus year old oaks and huge beech trees over 30m high. Whilst lovely and natural - pretty ideal for the animals - it doesn't always make for the most visible animals, and we have to tell people to take their time and have 'eyes everywhere' if they want to see the free-ranging tamarins. We do have plenty in the ranges too, including black lion tamarins.
I love the way they all interact with each other, it sounds like the Pied Tamarins are the most dominant even though they are not the biggest. I also had no idea that they travelled so far and freely throughout the zoo; they're obviously very confident in their surroundings.
I remember visiting Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as a small child and there being Tamarins in a completely open woodland exhibit. The keeper explained that Tamarins have very small territories and because they were fed regularly never needed to venture out too far in search of food.
When the Smithsonian National Zoo prepares to release Golden Lion Tamarins into the wild, they release them (or at least used to) into the small wooded area by the American area (which has since been redone so I don't know if this area is still there, I would think it is, though) and have them live pretty much wild in the trees for a bit before recapturing them and sending them off to Brazil and they've never run off or disappeared so it seems as though they do have small territories and don't venture around too much. This is also supported by Rick J's statement that Jersey's GLTs usually just stay within their small territory.
