"I used to cut trees and never took the titis into account, says Centena, calling the cotton-tops by their local name. I ignored them. I didn't know that they were in danger of extinction, I only knew I had to feed my family. But now we have become friends. Weighing barely a pound (half a kilogram), the tiny monkeys are among the most threatened primates in the world, driven to the brink by medical experiments, rampant deforestation and the illegal pet trade."
"They are found only in the tropical dry forests of northern Colombia, an ecosystem that has been reduced to 8% of its original size, largely by cattle ranching and logging; their survival depends on the restoration of this landscape, which has been stripped bare. In the hills outside San Juan Nepomuceno, a team of former loggers, farmers, environmentalists and biologists are working to bring the forest back, and with it the monkeys that have become famed for their punk-like manes."
Luis Enrique Centena, a former logger, now monitors cotton-top tamarins and has shifted from logging to conservation. Cotton-top tamarins are tiny, weighing about half a kilogram, living in tight family groups with complex calls and territorial behavior. Fewer than 7,500 remain, threatened by medical experiments, deforestation, and the illegal pet trade. The species is endemic to northern Colombia's tropical dry forests, an ecosystem reduced to 8% of its original size by cattle ranching and logging. Fundación Proyecto Titi and a team of former loggers, farmers, environmentalists and biologists use radio telemetry and restoration to rebuild habitat and protect seed dispersal and pollination roles.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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