This is the 11th successful birth for BPZOO
New Bedford, Massachusetts: Talk about having your hands full â BPZOOâs female emperor tamarin, Pepper, recently gave birth to her eleventh baby on August 29, 2024. She gave birth to her first babies, a set of twins named Brie and Gouda, in October of 2019.
This new baby, named âQuesoâ to round out the cheese-themed names of the troop, can be seen hanging out on the back of his dad, Pepper, or one of the five other siblings residing in the Rainforest, Rivers, & Reefs building. Pepper will carry and feed Queso for roughly thirty minutes every two to three hours until he is weaned â with Jack and the other older male siblings taking on the remaining childcare. They will carry Queso on their backs until he is roughly six to seven weeks old.
BPZOO has one of the largest troops in an AZA accredited facility, with six of Pepper and Jackâs eleven offspring still residing here.
Native to Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, these small, tree dwelling monkeys reside in lowland tropical rainforest, typically between 80 â 95 feet elevation and their diet consists of tree sap, fruits, insects, and eggs. While they are not currently endangered, rapid deforestation, infrastructure construction and popularity within the illegal pet trade may threaten this species in the near future. Currently, there are only 60 bearded emperor tamarins at 14 AZA institutions â including the 8 residing in New Bedford.
