Tamarin Group on exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo as of February, 2000.

Group History:

     Gal, Marisa and Pipoca are a group of Brazilian bicolor tamarins (Saguinus bicolor bicolor), both captive born at the Philadelphia Zoo.  They are considered property of the Brazilian government and currently on loan to the United States for specific breeding and exhibiting purposes.   

     Marisa and Gal were offspring of Milton and Maria who were paired together on September 3, 1993 at the Rio de Janeiro Primate Center, and arrived in Philadelphia on October 21, 1993.  Gal and Marisa were both parts of twin sets.  Gal, the older of the two, was part of the first set born on March 15, 1994.  Her twin brother, Caetano, was removed from the exhibit due to being paired with a breeding female.  On September 28, 1994 another set of twins, a male and a female, were conceived, the female being Marisa.  Milton and Maria gave birth to yet another pair of twins on April 25, 1995, before being taken off exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo and deported to other zoological facilities around the continental U.S. (Swerdlow, 1998)  

     This past year, Caetano had successfully fathered an infant male tamarin on January 25, 1999 at the Philadelphia Zoo.  Due to the lack of parental nurturing given to the infant male tamarin by its birth mother, it was gradually introduced into the exhibit hoping that Gal and Marisa would become surrogate mothers, giving the baby nurturing that its biological mother would not.  The merger was successfull, and the jevenile male, Pipoca,  now resides in the exhibit along with Marisa and Gal  

Enclosure:

     The Bicolored Tamarin exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo was located near the north exit of the Rare Animal House in cage number ten.  To the left of the exhibit are the Golden Lion-headed Tamarins (Saguinus leonopiticus), and to the right of the exhibit are the Douc Langurs.

     The size of the exhibit was estimated at 2.7m high x 3.7m wide x 3.7m deep.  There were 3 cement walls that composed both sides and the back of the exhibit, and a sectioned angled glass window for viewing.  The cement walls were painted light green with images of branches and leaves on either side, toward the top of the exhibit.  The floor was comprised of tile covered with dark brown mulch, which made it ideal for foraging.  The top of the cage was covered with bars, which were covered by wire mesh, which made it impossible for the tamarins to escape, while it allowed natural light to reach the cage.  There was also a small wooden nest box mounted to the back wall, and located in the back left corner of the exhibit

     There was a thick metal bar that ran through the center of the cage.  It was connected to either side of the cage, and also suspended from the ceiling by braces that attached to the bar in the form of a V.  A cement platform was mounted on the rear wall, and divided the wall horizontally into two halves.  The platform was raised on the right side above the keeper entrance.  The lower left side accommodated plants and stones, and was the supporting structure for some of the trees in the cage.  There were two entrances to the cage, one above the raise right side of the platform and one below.  The lower entrance was the one used by the keepers during feeding and maintenance time.  There were also gates on either side of the exhibit, which, if opened, would allow the animals to pass into the cage adjacent to it.  These were kept closed at all times, although some climbing/jumping behavior would occur on these closed passageways.

Maintenence:

     The maintenence schedule to date (February, 2000) did not change from studies completed in the past three years.  The tamarins were usually fed two times a day, once at around 9:30am, and once in the afternoon usually between 2:00pm and 3:00pm.  They were fed a typical diet that they would encounter in the wild, this included a large amount of fruits, insects, and vegetation.  They were fed Zu/Preem, a canned marmoset diet with Vitamin C, which was usually placed in a bowl and left on the platform of the cage throughout the day.  They received grapes, apples, oranges, and lettuce that was usually hung on a branch inside the cage.  They were also given crickets, mealworms, and Cheerios during various feeding times.  During the summer months the tamarins are given more food to meet higher metabolism needs.  The cage itself was cleaned daily and usually during the morning hours prior to 10:00am (zoo opening).  It was sprayed down with water and wiped clean.  The mulch on the floor of the cage is turned over daily and replaced four times a year (quarterly).  The cage furniture was rotated or changed along with the mulch.  The bicolored tamarins were never technically "off exhibit", meaning they never left the cage (Swerdlow, 1998).

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