With a crest of whitish hair that falls back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, a brown back, white or yellow arms and legs, and a tail that is brown at the base and black at the tip. That’s how he is cottony tamarin or cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), a small monkey that does not weigh more than half a kilo.
It is classified as critically endangered species and, in the wild, it can only be found in the forests of northern Colombia, where it lives in family groups of three to 30 members, jumping from tree to tree in search of routes, nectar, fresh leaves, insects and lizards to eat.
A very different habitat, for sure, than the one it was forced to occupy when it fell victim of illegal trafficking and had to live caged in a house in Spain the female specimen that the Local Police found at the beginning of the month wandering the streets of La Línea de Concepción, in Cádiz.
Tam, found looking very bad
She was loose in a neighborhood of El Zabala and were the neighbors who notified the policeafter he bit a person. Seprona was then in charge of taking her to the shelter AAP Primadomusin Villena, specialized in rescue and rehabilitate primates coming from the world of entertainment, private possession and illegal trafficking.
According to Public the primatologist Olga Bellonhead of the Primates area of AAP in Spain, “he will be about two years old. When he arrived he was very thin and looked very bad. Its coat was poor and dull.” An indicator that His diet had not been adequate.
Furthermore, Tam – as she has been baptized – presented small deformities in the bones of the armscaused by deficient levels of vitamin D. Of course, “when he came out of the carrier, he didn’t seem to be afraid, she is used to living with humans“says Bellón.
Even though he bit a person on the street, Bellón explains to us that has not had aggressive behavior in the shelter“although it is true that we follow a no-contact policy. We try to touch them as little as possible. The natural thing is that, if someone is going to touch a wild animal, it will bite them.”
What has caught the attention of his rescuers the most is that it is very difficult for him to get up in the morning. “This is not natural, because marmosets usually have diurnal habits. Most likely, has adopted the customs of the people with whom he lived“says Bellón.
The next steps for Tam, after completing quarantine, health tests and a period of rehabilitation, will be “look for a shelter where there is another companion of its specieswith whom they can socialize, something that is essential for the health of primates,” he tells us.
Using them as pets is abuse.
“There is no way that a marmoset monkey, a macaque, a chimpanzee or any other wild animal can be comfortable and live adequately in captivity,” emphasizes Bellón, who never tires of repeating that using them as pets is abuseno matter how good the person’s intentions are. They need to live with their peer group, have space and freedom of movement, and eat the food they are prepared for.
But it is not only for the good of these primates, many of which are in danger of extinction. Having them at home is a danger to people’s safety. “Wild animals in a stressful and frustrating situation for them can develop aggressive behaviors,” says Bellón.
On the other hand, they can be vehicles of contagious diseases that can pass from animals to humans, some serious. Internal pathogenic parasites (nematodes, fungi, protozoa) and viral infections are common, “such as HTLV, a virus that can cause leukemia,” says this expert.
Prohibited by law
“It is much more common than we think,” according to Bellón, who assures that there are still thousands of Spanish homes that have monkeys locked in cages.
For now, it is something blatantly illegalsince Law 07/2023 on the Protection of Animal Rights and Welfare came into force, which establishes in a transitional provision the prohibition of the private possession of primates “for reasons of danger and conservation.”
It is planned that the final legislation enters into force, at the latest, in September 2026with positive lists of all the wild mammals that can be kept as pets. Meanwhile, what we are clear about are those that are not allowed, among which are all primates without exception.
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