CONSERVATION STATUS
CITES: Appendix I
(What is CITES?)
IUCN Red List: S. oedipus: CR
(What is Red List?)
Key: CR = Critically endangered
(Click on species name to see IUCN Red List entry, including detailed status assessment information.)
Photo: James & Suzanne Hampton
While they were
exported for use in biomedical research in the tens of thousands in the
1960s and early 1970s, the cotton-top tamarin is now restricted from
international trade and has, since 1976, the highest level of protection
afforded by CITES (Mast et al. 1993). Surveys reveal that there are
only between 300 and 1000 cotton-top tamarins left in the wild (Savage
1990).
CONSERVATION THREATS & POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
Threat: Human-Induced Habitat Loss and Degradation
Losing more than 4000 km² (1544 mi²) of forest or 5% of the
tropical habitat per year, Colombia is one of the top ten countries
worldwide in terms of deforestation (Savage et al. 1989; Mast et al.
1993). This astonishing rate of deforestation can be attributed to
removal of forest products for subsistence and traditional uses, swidden agriculture, and large-scale
clearing for industrial agriculture and cattle grazing (Savage et al.
1989; Mast et al. 1993). The lowland
forest on which the cotton-top tamarin depends has been reduced to a
mere 5% of its former geographic range, posing a considerable
threat to the monkey. The northern part of Colombia is the most densely
populated area in the country and only three blocks of high-quality
forest remain (Alderman 1989). Fragments of forest dispersed across the
landscape in this part of the country hold remnant populations of
primates, and luckily, cotton-top tamarins seem to adjust and can live
in these disturbed habitats (Alderman 1989). If deforestation does not
stop or if restoration does not become a top priority, the cotton-top
tamarin will simply not have a place to live (Defler 2004).
The major cause behind deforestation is the overuse of forest products
by an exploding human population. Whether pressure from subsistence
users, swidden farmers, or exploitative timber corporations, large-scale
forest loss has occurred in Colombia and other parts of the world at
unprecedented and ever-increasing rates (Mittermeier et al. 1989; Mast
et al. 1993; Defler 2004). Removal of selected plant products by
traditional means in Colombia does not involve the same kind of overt
destruction of habitat as is seen with large-scale clearance, but it
does pose a threat to cotton-top tamarins because some of the targeted
tree species are important to the feeding ecology of the tamarins
(Alderman 1989). Specifically, removal of plants that are important dry
season resources can be detrimental to monkeys that depend on those
species during stressful times of year. Clearance or damage to the understory for obtaining subsistence
usage firewood and charcoal may have detrimental side effects as well,
damaging the layers of forest important for insect foraging (Alderman
1989). In particularly poor areas where the only available cooking fuel
is wood, a family of five consumes about 15 logs of wood per day (Savage
et al. 1996/1997). If these logs are cleared from an area and no
replanting occurs, it is understandable that large swaths of land may be
cleared over time, resulting in significant habitat loss for the
tamarins.
On a larger scale, commercial logging can result in massive forest removal
through clear-cutting. Forests take a long time to recover from
clear-cutting while the ecosystem is completely disrupted and may not
recover. Commercial logging also directly affects colonization rates
because as timber companies go deeper into forests, they clear roads for
their trucks and leave tracts of land cleared and ready for human
settlement (Marsh et al. 1987). This process occurs in Colombia
because, like in many clear-cut areas, vacant tracts are not being
replanted (Alderman 1989). Land cleared for agriculture, both
small-scale shifting cultivation
and large-scale plantations and ranching, is also increasing in
Colombia.
Exploring for oil in the lowlands of Colombia is a growing threat to
cotton-top tamarins as well. The area is rich in hydrocarbon reserves
and the economic boom associated with oil extraction certainly will
bring even more people to the area in search of jobs as well as opening
up forests to roads and settlement (Mittermeier et al. 1999).
Another serious human-induced threat is damming for hydroelectric power. Proposed dams
would flood the forest and destroy about 540 km² (208 mi²) of primary and secondary forests within Paramillo
National Park, one of the last protected areas in which the tamarins are
found (Mast et al. 1993). Hydroelectric power is an inexpensive,
renewable source of energy for Colombia, but damming areas of high biodiversity not only wipes out
fragile ecosystems but also displaces indigenous peoples living in the
forest, forcing them into remaining forest fragments and increasing
pressure on those areas of forest that are not flooded (Mast el al.
1993).
Potential Solutions
While 10% of the land in Colombia is legally protected in national
parks, at least 30% of national parks are invaded by colonists or
subject to other claims (Defler 2004). The protection of these parks on
paper must be translated to real regulation to make them more effective.
Even more important is to find ways of providing services that the
forest would provide to colonists including fuel, protein sources, and
income.
Providing alternate fuel sources is an important step in reducing the
amount of forest products used on a daily basis in Colombia. Proyecto
Tití, a conservation project sponsored by Roger Williams Park
Zoo, the Ministerio de Ambiente (the environmental protection agency
of Colombia), and CARSUCRE (a regional environmental organization), has
worked to provide alternate cooking methods that minimize the amount of
non-sustainable forest product usage. By working with local communities
to see which cooking methods worked best and which they preferred, the
project managers determined that by modifying a traditional clay oven,
they could use corn husks, coconut shells, and other vegetative waste
products as efficient fuel sources and decrease pressure on surrounding
forests (Savage et al. 1997c). These low-cost ovens have been
distributed to community members and are being used with great success.
Similar technology could be used in other villages that border
cotton-top tamarin habitats. If alternate fuel sources cannot be
obtained or cooking methods do not change, some effort should be
concentrated into replanting frequently harvested areas to hasten the
regeneration of important food sources for the tamarins as well as
provide future resources for local communities.
Hydroelectricity makes up about 70% of Colombia's electric power
while only 6% of the hydroelectric potential is currently being
exploited. Power companies as well as the Colombian government must
take into consideration environmental and socioeconomic factors when
building dams. Fortunately, Colombia's power sector has historically
avoided major negative environmental and social impacts resulting from
erecting dams, but as the human population grows and the demand for
electricity also increases, this record will be difficult to maintain
(Mast et. al 1993). Power companies must work with the Colombian
government to assess impacts on biodiversity and Colombian citizens to
avoid disastrous engineering decisions.
Threat: Harvesting (hunting/gathering)
Primates have little value in Colombia other than for their meat and as
export commodities (Defler 2004). Live capture for biomedical research
and the pet trade has historically been a serious threat to cotton-top
tamarins. By the early 1970s, as many as 40,000 cotton-tops had been
caught and exported from Colombia, with about 14,000 of those animals
imported into the US (Mittermeier et al. 1994). This massive
exportation of tamarins seriously reduced the wild population.
Potential solutions
Though cotton-top tamarins are now protected under Appendix I of
CITES, and importation into the US has ceased, they are still
being used in biomedical research. The captive population outnumbers
the wild population and has been carefully maintained through selective
captive breeding programs so that animals do not need to be taken from
the wild to supplement captive populations (Savage 1997). At the
present time, the captive populations are self-sustaining and one of the
goals is that the captive populations may be sufficient enough to supply
animals for reintroduction in Colombia in the future (Mittermeier et al.
1994).
Another facet of Proyecto Tití which has decreased hunting of
wildlife is an innovative exchange program. Members of a community
living close to the forest were able to exchange their
slingshots, a common hunting implement, for stuffed cotton-top tamarin
toys (Savage et al. 1997c). Plush stuffed animals are a rarity in this
small village and interest in the exchange was very high. By retiring
their slingshots, members of the community significantly decreased the
amount of hunting and capture of wildlife for the pet trade, certainly
benefiting the cotton-top tamarins in the nearby forest (Savage 1997).
Programs like this that discourage hunting and wildlife capture and
provide a commodity for local community members are important to
increase awareness. They also are easily replicated in other areas and
may be one part of the solution to decrease poaching of endangered
species.
Threat: Natural Disasters
During periods of severe drought, pregnant cotton-top tamarins
overwhelmingly fail to deliver viable offspring (Savage et al. 1996a).
During one drought, none of the pregnant females in the study groups
gave birth to viable infants. Environmental stress such as drought
could have potentially harmful effects on small populations of
cotton-top tamarins, though even after fetal loss, they can conceive
again within the breeding season (Savage et al. 1996a).
Potential solutions
Intermittent severe droughts that lead to fetal loss cannot be solved or
planned for but will likely not have enormous detrimental effects on the
size of the cotton-top tamarin population because of their high
fertility rates and ability to conceive more than once per year (Savage
et al. 1996a; Achenbach & Snowdon 2002).
Threat: Intrinsic Factors
With offspring survivorship around 86% in the wild, cotton-top
tamarins are well-equipped to maintain the size of their population
if they have habitat in which to live (Savage et al. 1996a). As
habitat disappears and becomes more fragmented, though, dispersal may be
limited and offspring survivorship may decrease as inbreeding increases.
The potential problems associated with inbreeding are particularly
devastating in small communities and include inbreeding depression and genetic drift (Marsh 2003).
Threat: Human Disturbance
Civil disturbance by guerrilla
fighters and paramilitary
operations have actually resulted in positive results for the cotton-top
tamarin population in some areas of Colombia. Because local people have
been removed from their land by these rebels, fuelwood acquisition has
ceased and they are not able to clear land for planting gardens. While
these circumstances are very unfortunate for the victims of these
paramilitary operations, cotton-top tamarins are benefiting through
decreased pressure on their habitat (Defler et al. 2003). Generally
speaking, guerrilla fighters and civil instability are
bad for primates and other forest-dwelling animals because operations
taking place primarily in the forests results in increased hunting
pressure by fighters and displaced people. This is especially prevalent
in Africa, but could also be the case in South American countries as
well (see Coxe et al. 2000). Furthermore, areas governed by armed
fighters are often used to cultivate crops of illegal drugs, requiring
that forest is cleared and habitat is destroyed. As the market for
these drugs continues to be lucrative both within Colombia and abroad,
economic incentives to plant these types of crops persists and larger
amounts of land will be converted to maintain the supply (Álvarez 2002).
Potential Solutions
Instability due to civil unrest has prevented researchers from
maintaining their presence in some areas of the cotton-top tamarin's
range. Satellite imaging of unstable areas has continued, allowing
researchers to remotely collect data on forest destruction and
fragmentation. Work on cotton-top tamarins continues in safer regions
of Colombia that have populations (Defler et al. 2003).
Decreasing the demand for illegal drugs is an ongoing battle in the
United States and elsewhere. Until demand decreases, incentives will
continue to exist to clear forest and grow drugs.
Links to other information about cotton-top tamarin conservation:
http://proyectotiti.com
http://www.csew.com
/cottontop/SSP/Enghome.htm
SPECIAL NOTES
Cotton-top tamarins have been used in biomedical research because they
are especially useful as models for the study of Epstein-Barr virus, colitis, and colon cancer
(Mittermeier et al. 1994). In captivity, as many as half of the adult
cotton-top tamarins spontaneously develop colitis, characterized
by prolonged, repeated bouts of diarrhea, severe weight loss and even
death (King et al. 1993). This type of colitis is linked to an
increased risk of developing a certain type of colon cancer, colonic
adenocarcinoma (Clapp et al. 1993). Since these diseases affect
humans, cotton-top tamarins have been studied extensively in captivity
to understand the causes of these diseases and how they relate to one
another, as well seeking potential cures (Clapp et al. 1993).
LINKS TO MORE ABOUT CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION INFORMATION
CONSERVATION NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN Saguinus oedipus CONSERVATION
Content last modified: May 18, 2005
Written by Kristina Cawthon Lang. Reviewed by Anne Savage.
Cite this page as:
Cawthon Lang KA. 2005 May 18. Primate Factsheets: Cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) Conservation . <http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/cotton-top_tamarin/cons>. Accessed 2009 November 7.
