A RECENT trip to Brazil inspired a Jersey conservationist to address the “crisis” facing golden-headed lion tamarins by creating two specialised rehabilitation enclosures for the monkeys.
Dominic Wormell explained that the “beautiful” monkeys are increasingly found injured on the roadside or electrocuted, as the forests they inhabit are turned into cattle ranches and “more intensive coffee plantations”.
He explained that the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust had supported the region, purchasing a “large tract of forest” where tamarins still live, but added: “In most of the rest of their range, the monkeys are suffering due to changing agricultural practices.”
Mr Wormell explained that monkeys face dangerous journeys as they search for food, including crossing roads and power lines, and there are currently no facilities to help injured or electrocuted monkeys.
“We decided that the most immediate need is to build some specific rehabilitation enclosures and facilities that will allow rescued tamarins to recover properly and regain their strength before attempts are made to release them back into the wild,” he said.
“Crucially, the initiative will link with field researchers who are studying wild tamarin populations, making sure that the tamarins are released in the correct forest habitat that has the resources to sustain them, and that they will be monitored closely.”
Mr Wormell added that the goal is for the monkeys to be released into secure parts of the forest, with the advice of field workers who watch the wild tamarins.
The two enclosures are only the start, he said, with more on the way in the future.
“There are also plans to install canopy bridges over dangerous road crossings, giving tamarins safe passage and reconnecting isolated habitats,” he added.
Mr Wormell worked for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for 34 years.
Soon after his high-profile departure in 2023, the conservationist set up The Tamarin Trust where he continues to work with the same species that he specialised in at Durrell.
