Competition Winner Names Critically Endangered Monkey Twins
Competition Winner Names Critically Endangered Monkey Twins
We are proud to announce that the winning names are Trick and Treat!
Over the past week Drusillas Park, East Sussex, has been running a competition to name their two beautiful baby cotton-top tamarin twins. The results are now in and Drusillas is proud to announce that the winning names are Trick and Treat.
The competition received over 500 submissions, with lots of people eager to be in with a chance of naming the little monkeys. There were some fantastic entries, and names such as Toffee and Apple, Mish and Mash and Peak and Boo amongst the best.
Drusillas’ competition brief left lots of scope for creativity, with the only guidelines being that the names should pair well together and be gender neutral. The winning entry came from Michelle Parker, who suggested the names simply because it’s the month of Halloween!
Head Keeper, Mark Kenward, commented: “We are thrilled with the new names Michelle has picked out for our cotton-top twins! They are very fitting names as these little monkeys are super cheeky and were born just before Halloween! We can’t wait to tell the duo their names!”
Cotton-top tamarins are one of the most endangered primates in South America, so the news of Trick and Treat’s birth has been very exciting indeed.
The cheeky little monkeys have always been a popular attraction at the zoo and the two tiny fluff balls have been delighting visitors and making excellent progress.
Zoo Manager, Sue Woodgate, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled with our new arrivals. These beautiful monkeys are facing serious threat in the wild, and we are in great danger of losing this wonderful and charismatic species altogether. We are just ecstatic that the twins have been born.”
“Habitat destruction is one of the main threats facing cotton-top tamarins in the wild. Deforestation is a major problem for these monkeys; they are losing more and more of their habitat every day as the trees are cleared for timber production, human settlements, agriculture and charcoal production. There is also a huge risk to the tamarins from the illegal wildlife trade.”
Mum, Florencia and Dad, Pasto welcomed Trick and Treat at the end of last month, but kept the youngsters closely protected for the first few weeks. However, now the twins are a little bigger, they have started to show them off and the lovely pair can be easily spotted in their enclosure.