The Chattanooga Zoo recently welcomed two newborn pied tamarins, a critically endangered species of small primates native to the Brazilian rainforest.
The newborns are the second set of twins born to Daphne and Dudley – one of two breeding pairs of pied tamarins at the zoo.
The tiny tree-dwelling monkeys, which weigh about one pound and grow to be around one foot long, are endangered due to the exotic pet trade and a reduction in their habitat, according to a release.
Despite the notorious difficulty in breeding the species, the zoo has successfully done so three times, a feat animal care supervisor Kate Gore attributes to animal compatibility and habitat conditions at the zoo.
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Kate Warner, keeper of the zoo's Callitrichidae family of small primates which also include emporer tamarins, golden lion tamarins, Geoffroy's marmosets and cotton-top tamarins, said in an interview that the pied tamarins take about two years to reach maturity.
Pied tamarins are extremely protective of their young, so keepers will wait another two months before removing the babies from their enclosure for their first vaccinations and veterinary exam, at which point the sex of the newborns will be determined, zoo veterinarian Tony Ashley said in an interview.
Now, the babies are mostly clinging to the backs of their parents and their older siblings. That's how they get around for their first six to 10 weeks, Warner said.
"They live in family groups," Ashley said of the pied tamarins. "The older brothers are helping raise these two, and that's important because that's required for them to be able to go out and successfully mate and raise babies of their own."
The zoo is asking the public to help name the newborns as a way to get people interested in the zoo's efforts to preserve the species by forming a connection with the animals, Jake Cash, director of marketing and communications for the zoo, said in an interview.
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"Doing something like this, where people can get involved and have some sort of stake in it, we find helps people become more invested," he said. "That's also why it's important to have them here and have them visible. You care more about something you can see."
People can vote for one of three options nominated by zoo employees for the twins:
— Appa and Momo, characters from the TV show "Avatar: The Last Airbender"
— Apple and Cherry
— Merry and Pippin, the two youngest hobbits in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."
To vote, use the online form on the zoo's website or visit the pied tamarin enclosure at the zoo. The names with the most votes will be announced on Nov. 12 through the zoo's social media pages.
Staff is hopeful that the zoo's other breeding pair of pied tamarins — Carly and Belen — will reproduce in the coming months, so another opportunity to select a monkey moniker or two (pied tamarins almost always have twins) may be coming soon.
Contact Emily Crisman at [email protected] or 423-757-6508.
Note: This story was updated on Oct. 25 to correct the spelling of a keeper's name.