COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KXRM) — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo recently welcomed a new baby gorilla, but he isn’t the only tiny primate to make a debut at the zoo. Two bold and bearded sisters arrived in July: a pair of bearded emperor tamarin siblings, 4-year-old Mattessich, and 3-year-old Gianna.
According to CMZoo, the tamarins are difficult to tell apart, and even the keepers who work closely with them can get confused, if not for their microchips that help keep their records straight. But the best clue the zoo can give is that Gianna tends to keep her beard more neatly groomed than her older sister, Mattessich.
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“They are really outgoing and interested in guests,” Madi Ort, animal keeper in Primate World, said. “They’ll come right over to the glass with such curious energy, and they always want to see what people are holding in their hands.”
The sisters came to CMZoo from another zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and they will stay at CMZoo until they have breeding recommendations, as part of CMZoo’s support of the Bearded Emperor Tamarin Species Survival Plan…