Get your first look at Dartmoor Zoo’s exciting new arrivals!

Conservation charity, Dartmoor Zoo, has welcomed two red-handed tamarins from Szeged Zoo in Hungary and invites animal lovers to attend an opening ceremony on Friday 8th November at 3pm, where the tamarins will be revealed to the public in their brand-new enclosure.

The two female red-handed tamarins, Pumpkin (aged 4) and Ember (aged 8), were welcomed to the zoo on 27th October and have been settling into their new home. In the run up to their arrival, the team at Dartmoor Zoo were busy creating a new enclosure for the tamarins to live, which has been carefully designed with plenty of room for them to climb, swing and jump at their leisure – as well as providing an exceptional viewing opportunity for visitors to the zoo.

Red-handed tamarins are also known as the golden-handed tamarin or Midas tamarin and grow to between 18 to 30 cm’s in size. In the wild, their diet mainly consists of insects, fruit and flowers as well as frogs, rodents and reptiles. These omnivores disperse seeds as they travel, which helps the forests to grow. Red-handed tamarins face the challenge of their natural habitat, the tropical rainforest in South America, being threatened by deforestation. *

Coral Jonas, deputy CEO commented: “We’re so pleased with our new arrivals and we are looking forward to their happy future at Dartmoor Zoo. It’s been an exciting time, planning and developing their new enclosure and we cannot wait to officially open it and celebrate the arrival. These particular tamarins tend to live in groups of five on average, we hope that in the future we will be able to breed from one of the females, but for now we want to enjoy getting to know them and provide them with the best home possible.

“Here at Dartmoor Zoo our priority is to educate and inspire the general public about wildlife conservation and improve captive animal management by providing a safe environment for animals under threat in the wild.”

Glass production specialists, Cornwall Glass, kindly donated the glass that develop the tamarins’ new enclosure, providing an optimum viewing experience for zoo visitors. Along with the donation of glass, staff also volunteered their time to help fit the glazing and assist in some of the other works.

Coral Jones added: “Thanks to the team at Cornwall Glass, we have been able to provide a bespoke home for two new animals and give them a safe and secure environment to live in. We’re delighted that Cornwall Glass will be attending the opening ceremony on Friday 8th November, to cut the ribbon and officially open Pumpkin and Ember’s new home.”

The red-handed tamarins’ official enclosure opening will take place on Friday 8th November at 3pm. Normal admission charges apply. Admission fees make a vital contribution to the animal care and conservation research Dartmoor Zoo undertakes.

Dartmoor Zoo was established in 2007 when Benjamin Mee and his family bought an ailing zoo. Since then, Ben, his family and team have built the Zoo into the popular tourist attraction it is today. Ben wrote a book about his experience and in 2011 it was made into the Hollywood Film ‘We Bought a Zoo’ starring Matt Damon. In 2014 Ben Mee kindly donated the zoo to the Dartmoor Zoological Society charity. Today the Zoo is heavily involved in research, conservation and education projects to promote the welfare of animals and to enrich both the lives of humans and animals.