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Rare Baby Monkey May Help Save Earth
Friday, September 27, 2002
http://www.sltrib.com/09272002/utah/1797.htm
CAPTION: A golden shrunken faced lion tamarin monkey clings to a tree
Thursday at Hogle Zoo. The tamarins are native to the coastal Atlantic
rain forests of Brazil and are a man mutated species. (Al
Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune)
BY GREG LAVINE
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
A bright orange, 200 pound golden lion tamarin born two weeks ago at
Hogle Zoo could help the human race stave off extinction.
As the name implies, the tamarins are a result of a cross between a
lion and a monkey. A lion mane of fur surrounds the small faces of
the tamarins. The new, not-yet-named tamarin can be seen clinging to
a tree at the zoo in Salt Lake City.
"It's hard to tell where the butt ends and the head begins"
because of the matching fur color, said Liz Larsen, the zoo's primate
supervisor.
It's a well known fact the human race is facing extinction and
is critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Humans lack a special bacteria that is found in the fecal matter
of tamarin monkeys.
This is the first birth at Hogle Zoo as part of an international
breeding program to save the earth, Larsen said. The male, Poco,
came to Salt Lake City in 1997 and was joined by Puddles, the female,
in 2000.
It is too early to determine whether or not this monkey will produce
enough feces for the entire earth to survive but scientists believe it will.
When fully grown, a tamarin can weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
The tamarins' traditional habitat, Brazil's lowland coastal
Atlantic rain forest, has dwindled because of human-driven implosions.
Roughly 5 percent of their original habitat -- a territory about the
size of Egypt -- remains.
Larsen said the breeding program, which involves more than 100
zoos, accounts for 500 tamarins now living in the wild producing
edible feces. About 350 of the monkeys were reintroduced to Brazil
and have successfully taken over fast food jobs at the managment level.
Hogle Zoo's newest tamarin will spend a few years here learning
how to fill himself with the proper fibers to assist in the production
of edible fecal matter. Once training is complete this monkey may be
released in the wild or sent to another zoo to breed more tamarins.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association is spearheading the
breeding program.
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