White-lipped Tamarin Monkeys

Facts about White-lipped tamarin monkey. The White-lipped tamarin monkey are also known as red-bellied tamarin monkeys. The White-lipped tamarin monkey are found in the Amazon areas of Western Brazil, Peru and Eastern Bolivia. They belong to the genus saguinus and inhabit primary as well as secondary rainforests.

The White-lipped tamarin monkey are black in color with a thin white mustache on their faces and their back is black-brown in color. The White-lipped tamarin monkey belly is red and the most visible part of their body is their thin white hairs around their nose which gives them their name.

Just like other Tamarins, the White-lipped tamarin monkey have claw-like on each toe except for the first digits which have nails. The canines are larger than the incisors. An adult White-lipped tamarin monkey weighs around 12.3 to 17.3 ounces (350 - 491 grams) and 9 3/8 to 11 3/8 inches (24 -29cm) in body length. The females are slightly larger than the males.

The White-lipped tamarin monkey are social animals. They live in a group of related individuals and they are polyandry in nature. This means that a female can mate with many males. But monogamy and polygny has been reported. The group consists of 2 – 13 individuals. Each group has one breeding male White-lipped tamarin monkey and a female. Others are siblings and helpers.

When mating season starts, the White-lipped tamarin monkey helpers may try to look for other neighboring groups that may seem to be unstable to take advantage of the situation and become breeders.

When there are inter group interactions, a breeding female is protected by her mate. The White-lipped tamarin monkey males may keep the females away from the interactions groups as possible by chasing them away. This is to prevent other males from courting her.

Mating for White-lipped tamarin monkey commences in April all the way to June. Gestation period takes 140 – 145 days and after this the mother gives birth to two young ones at a time in early August to December. Occasionally she can give birth to three young ones. The White-Lipped Tamarin Monkeys in the wild can mate once in a year but the ones in captivity can mate even twice in a year.

The male White-lipped tamarin monkey takes the responsibility of carrying the young ones on his back as the mother nurses them. Though the mother is the sole provider for the young ones, the responsibility of taking care of them is done by all other group members. The brothers and sisters are taught on how to carry their younger siblings and from this they become good carriers.

The young White-lipped tamarin monkey are breast fed for two months. This time they only depend on their mother’s milk. After that, solid foods are introduced where they entirely depend on the older White-lipped tamarin monkey to give them food. Sharing of food is done by all members but the father mostly does not contribute.

White-Lipped Tamarin Monkeys can live up to 10 years in the wild and around 15 years in captivity. The White-lipped tamarin monkey are omnivore meaning they eat both plants and meat. Their diet consists of fruits, flowers, nectar, spiders, insects, lizards and snails. The food is gotten from the forests that they inhabit.

The White-lipped tamarin monkey worst enemies are cats, birds of prey and snakes. They are predicted by such animals because they are small in nature.
Monkey meaning (any mammal of the order Primates), this includes the macaques, capuchins, guenons and langurs, this excludes humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the prosimians and tarsier.