Odisha zoo gets two new species of monkeys

Bhubaneswar: Good news for wildlife and animal lovers as they will see new faces in Nandankanan Zoological Park here with inclusion of four new members in the animal planet.

The zoo authorities have brought two rare species of monkeys – a pair of Tamarin and a pair of Marmoset – from Madurai in Tamil Nadu adding them as the new members.

Tamarin monkeys have been brought to the Nanadankanan for the first time. The monkeys arrived here on Sunday evening.

Usually, the squirrel-sized Tamarins are found in southern central America, northwestern Colombia and the Amazon basin. They appear black, brown and white with mustache-like hairs on their face. Their body size ranges from 13 to 30 cm and they weigh from 220 to 900 gram. They have lower canine teeth that are clearly longer than the incisors.

The Tamarin species of monkeys eat fruits, plants, leaves, small insects, eggs and small birds. They live in group with life expectancy upto 18 years.

The zoo authorities have decided to put the pair of Tamarin monkeys in enclosure 55 (B) of Nandankanan.

Earlier, four Marmoset monkeys were brought to the zoo in 2015. Out of four, one male and one female monkey died after few days. Later, another male and female Marmoset monkeys also died on May 31 and July 22, 2016 respectively.

The two new pair of monkeys will be kept in the enclosure lying vacant after deaths of Marmosets in Nandankanan.