Species Status:  ENDANGERED

Wild Status:

     Currently this species is considered to be officially endangered under the US Endangered Species Act (Wolfheim, 1983).  The two leading causes of this are due mainly to the tamarins small ranging habitats, and also to deforestation (Rylands; Mittermeier, 1982).  S. b. bicolor's current habitat surrounds the Brazilian city of Manaus.  Settling advancements of this city and nearby cities has been the primary cause of deforestation throughout the Amazon (Wolfheim, 1983, Swerdlow, 1998) .

     There are two other animals that are closely related to S.b. bicolor and they are contained within the other to subspecies, which are S.b. martinsi, and S.b. ochraceus.  They also inhabit the tropical forests of the Amazon and their ranges extend from the city of Manaus to the east of the Uatuma.  Like their relatives, they are also endangered due to the abundance of deforestation .  In fact, compared to all 11 species of tamarins, these three subspecies are considered to be in the greatest danger of becoming extinct (Ayres; Mittermeier, 1982).

Pictures taken by Lenox and Haas and adjusted using Photoshop 5.0.

         In addition, the Pygmy Marmosets, which are also found within the family Calltrichidae, also reside south of the Amazon and are said to be overlapping in range with some of the species of the genus Saguinus (Jolly, 1985).  Also the situation of the pied bare-face tamarin is similar to the golden lion tamarin, Leontopithicus rosalia, which was found near the city of Rio de Janeiro.   As the area around the city became more urbanized, habitat was destroyed, forcing this particular tamarin to the verge of extinction (Ayres et al, 1982).

Captive Status:

     S.b. bicolor has been a captive species for some time, but published studies on this species are limited.  Currently, only 35 captive members are documented internationally (www.worldzoo.org).  In fact, there are only seven locations that currently house this species.  Among them are the Jersey Wildlife Preservation, The Jackson Zoo and The Philadelphia Zoo.  As of 1994, the Jersey location has only produced three viable offspring out of 11 pregnancies.

Picture taken by Lenox and Haas and adjusted in Photoshop 5.0, 2/2000.

Institution

Male

Female

Unknown

Births (last 6 months)

Apeldoorn, Netherlands

3

1

2

0

Belfast, No. Ireland

3

1

0

0

Magdeburg, Germany

4

2

0

0

Cleveland, Ohio

1

0

2

0

Granby, Quebec, Canada

1

1

0

1

Jackson, Mississippi

1

1

0

0

Philadelphia , Pennsylvania

3

4

0

3

Information taken from www.worldzoo.org.

   The first bicolored tamarin birth in the United States, which produced twin offspring, Caetano and Gal, occurred in the Philadelphia Zoo in March of 1994.  Since then, Philadelphia has been considered to have the most successful bicolored tamarin breeding program.  The fact that this species is still endangered breeding of the animals is taken seriously.  Until recently there was no studbook available for the bicolored tamarin(Swerdlow, 1998).  Dr. Andrew Baker, Curator of Primates and Small Animals, of the Philadelphia Zoo has created a studbook for the species.

     Within the past two years at the Philadelphia Zoo a monogamous pair of S.b. bicolors were removed from the exhibit leaving a trio of one male, and two female siblings.  Following the removal of the breeding pair of tamarins, the male sibling was removed from the exhibit leaving only the two female siblings.  The male was paired with a breeding female, and just recently, their young male offspring, was introduced into the exhibit.