Imagine a tiny monkey with a fluffy white crest that looks like a cotton ball on its head. That’s the cotton-top tamarin, one of the world’s most adorable and endangered primates. It lives only in a small area of northwestern Colombia, where it swings through the trees and eats fruits, insects, and seeds. It is also very smart and can communicate with other tamarins using different sounds and gestures.

The cotton-top tamarin is not only cute but also very cooperative. It lives in family groups of up to 15 members, where only the dominant pair breeds and the others help take care of the babies. They also share their food and territory with other groups and defend themselves from predators like snakes and cats with their sharp teeth and nails

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Colombia

<6,000

Official estimate

CR

2020