Cotton-Top Tamarin Habitat

The animal I chose to make a habitat for is the cotton-top tamarin. From my knowledge, I was able to make judicious choices that would suit a cotton-top tamarin’s likes and dislikes. Zoo exhibits already are equipped with supplies tamarins need. But the picture I drew is how I think a habitat for a cotton-top tamarin should be in a zoo exhibit. Cotton-top tamarin is a SSP (Species Survival Plan) animal who’s critically endangered animal due to deforestation and wildlife trafficking. These animals are supposedly ideal captive animals, but they really aren’t and they shouldn’t be.

I chose the setting of the habitat based on my knowledge of these animals, so I have reasons why I chose what I did. First off, there are a lot of branches, vines, trees, and leaves (from what it’s supposed to look like on the ground). Cotton-top tamarins spend a lot of time sleeping in tree boughs, traveling by swinging in vines, and foraging in the leaf litters. They spend most of their lives in trees than they do on land. Cotton-top tamarins live in forests in reality—dry, deciduous, second growth, and moist forests work for them—so they need lots of forestation. In the bottom left corner, there is an area of water. Tamarins don’t normally go into water, but they drink water and like wet, moist forests. The objects in the water are like stepping stones and the holes with the pink color in it have berries (one of the food items they eat). I put that in the shallow water because the animals will need a challenge in order to get the food. But they won’t drown because the food comes out easily. Berries will be the only food item in the water because insects and leaves will have an unusual taste after being in the water. The water is for bathing and stuff ...

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...out so the animal can travel farther. There would be a lot more trees but not enough were the animal felt crowded.

I think a cotton-top tamarin would enjoy the habitat I created for it. There would be a lot of room for it to move around, and there would be a lot of things that would keep it occupied for a long time. This habitat supplies all the things a cotton-top tamarin would need except one thing: the actual feeling of the real wildlife. Although a zoo habitat looks fun, an animal should still be able to safely move about its original habitat without being trafficked or have its habitat destroyed. The good thing about zoos is that it allows the animal to be safe from killers and traders and adds a little to make it seem like a real habitat. By doing this, we might be able to stop these little animals from becoming extinct and never being on earth ever again.