The cotton-top tamarins, which weigh less than a pound, were left out in the cold last week at the Alexandria Zoological Park, city officials said. The zoo employee who inadvertently left the monkeys in the cold has resigned. Three tamarins at the zoo were inadvertently left out in the cold on Jan. 7, and two of them died "as a direct result of the caretaker's responsibility for the evening," a city news release said. They need temperatures of 76 to 85 degrees. The person responsible for caring for the animals has resigned from zoo employment, city officials said. The reserve has also removed the animals' horns, a controversial decision because researchers have not yet determined the effects on the rhino. Public Works Director David Gill said in a news release "this appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem." On Tuesday, PETA sent a letter to a USDA official to request an investigation of the "gross oversight" by the Alexandria Zoo regarding the deaths of the "two critically endangered cotton-top tamarins" and to ask that steps be taken to ensure the safety of the tamarin which survived the cold exposure as well as the safety of other animals at the zoo. The cotton-top, or cotton-headed, tamarin is one of the world's smallest primates and is recognized by its fan of long, white hair on its head. The monkeys are critically endangered, with about 1,800 in captivity and about 6,000 in a small area of northwest Colombia, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
– There are about 7,800 cotton-top tamarins left on the planet, 1,800 of them in captivity—and two fewer of the species of tiny monkey the AP dubs "critically endangered" after a Louisiana zookeeper apparently forgot about them and left them to freeze to death. The one-pound tamarins, which originate in a pocket of Colombian tropics, like it hot—between 76 and 85 degrees—and temps at the Alexandria Zoological Park last Wednesday dipped down into the teens, killing two while a third survived. City officials say an investigation is ongoing, though "this appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem." The zookeeper was initially put on administrative leave, but resigned Monday. Predictably unimpressed is PETA, which was never a fan of zoos to begin with and is calling for a federal investigation, reports the Alexandria Town Talk. Says deputy general counsel Delcianna Winders, "These tamarins lived a sad life of deprivation in captivity, and their deaths were totally preventable. This fatal neglect is all too common in zoos and other places where animals are displayed for human amusement, and that's why PETA's motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to use for entertainment.'" In a letter bemoaning the zoo's "gross oversight," it's asking the USDA to look into violations of the Animal Welfare Act and "hold the zoo fully accountable. (Things turned out much better for a rhino who survived a poaching attempt and gave birth Tuesday.)