News and Stories

One of our indoor primate habitats in Jungle Trails now houses two different primate species. Meet Dash and Desmond!

Dash is a male black howler monkey, and Desmond is a male golden-headed lion tamarin.

But how did these two end up together? For a variety of reasons, sometimes individual animals cannot be housed with other members of their species; and social interaction is vital for primates. When this happens, zoo professionals have to get creative in order to provide the best welfare situation for those individuals. We often look at how species behave and coexist in the wild for solutions we can apply here at the zoo. Both black howler monkeys and golden-headed lion tamarins are species found in South America. These primates tend to occupy different levels of the forest canopy; thus, they would be less likely compete for territory and resources.

To set the boys up best for success, the keepers at Jungle Trails made sure there were numerous paths and levels of perching, as well as favorable resting spaces and enrichment for each. Both Dash and Desmond have shown species-appropriate behavior as new roommates, and we hope to see them together in the new Jungle Trails outdoor habitat opening later this year!