Species/Cotton-top tamarin
Cotton-top tamarin
Saguinus oedipus
CRCritically Endangered
- Range
- Tropical dry forest of northern Colombia
- Population
- Fewer than 7,500 wild individuals; about 2,000 mature
- Trend
- decreasing
- Last assessed
- 2020
A half-pound primate with a white punk crest, found nowhere else on Earth. Colombia’s dry forest has been cut to a remnant, and tens of thousands of tamarins were exported for labs and the pet trade in the last century.
If a species this charismatic can vanish from a country while the rest of us scroll past it, the quiet ones never stood a chance. Proyecto Tití has shown that local restoration actually works.
Threats
- Deforestation for cattle and farms
- Illegal pet trade
- Historic biomedical export
What you can do
- Support Proyecto Tití
The on-the-ground program restoring dry forest and working with former loggers.
Never buy wild primates
Pet-trade demand is still a primary threat. Share that, plainly.