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| Common Name: | Goeldi's monkeys | Family: | Callitrichidae |
| Latin Name: | Callimico goeldii | Diet: | Frugivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Tropical Rainforests, |
| Native To: | South America | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Vulnerable |
Goeldi’s monkeys at Edinburgh Zoo
Photo by Cam McMahon
Edinburgh Zoo currently has five Goeldi's monkeys. Our male Goeldi’s Monkey, Jo, was born at Edinburgh Zoo in 2006 and is now paired with female Mya, who came from the Colchester Zoo in Essex. The pair have been getting on very well, and have had three infants: male Moya, who was born in February 2009, Orinocho, another male, who was born in August 2009, and a third infant who was born in July 2010.
Goeldi’s monkey group sizes are usually between 2-8 individuals, so there is still plenty of room for the family to expand further!
Where it they be found at Edinburgh Zoo
Magic forest
Goeldi’s monkeys in the wild
Goeldi’s monkeys (Callimico goeldii) are small—about the size of a squirrel—and come from the Amazon Basin regions of Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. Goeldi’s monkeys share their home-range with tamarin species—mainly saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis) and Spixs black-mantled tamarins (Saguinus nigricollis). They also forage and travel with groups of moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax, Saguinus labiatus, and Saguinus imperator). Although they might look like tamarins, Goeldi’s monkeys are actually quite different.
There are several things that make Goeldi’s monkeys different from marmosets and tamarins; first, the Goeldi’s monkey has 36 teeth, while marmosets and tamarins have only 32 teeth. Goeldi’s monkeys also have claws instead of nails, and they move around very differently than their marmoset and tamarin cousins. Goeldi’s monkeys move around by vertical clinging and leaping from tree to tree—sometimes distances of 13 feet can be jumped at one time! This is a long distance when you are very small.
In the wild, Goeldi’s monkeys don’t eat gum or tree sap like marmosets and tamarins, and have only one infant instead of the twins that tamarins and marmosets typically have. The female Goeldi’s monkey carries the baby first, for up to 28 days. Then the male shares duties with the female. Most of the caring for the baby is done by the adult male.
Goeldi’s monkeys prefer to travel and forage around 16 feet from ground level, but will go up higher into the forest canopy to forage and feed on the fruit trees. They come to the ground to catch insects, and they especially like grasshoppers! During the middle of the day they have rest periods where they will groom each other. Goeldi’s monkeys scent mark their territory with urine and secretions that leave light brown smears.
Breeding programme category: EEP
IUCN Red List category: Vulnerable
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