The zoo on Thursday opened the new exhibit to the public, a larger enclosure for golden lion tamarins Blitz, Gabriel, and Rosie, and their habitat-mates, Hoffmann's two-toed sloths named Dustin and Fern. The habitat is much larger than their previous home in the zoo, giving "some of the most charismatic guys" there ample room to climb and wander, zoo representatives tell New Times.
Both species are native to the dense jungles of Central and South America, so zoo staff designed the new habitat to resemble the cloud forests of Brazil with tall trees and limbs to climb. The tamarins, which are small, furry monkeys about the size of a squirrel, swung about the branches and vines of the enclosure, making high-pitched trills during New Times' visit on Wednesday. Gabriel, a 14-year-old male, divided his time between basking in the sun on a high branch and coaxing snacks from his human handler. His sister Rosie, 12, spent most of her time hanging out with Blitz, a 17-year-old male who made it his personal mission to investigate any squirrel that came close to the habitat.
Gabriel, a 14-year-old golden lion tamarin, basks in the South Florida sunlight in his new enclosure at Palm Beach Zoo.
Photo from Palm Beach Zoo
Their sloth roommates were predictably far less animated, deciding to hide out in their holes that morning. Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth males are solitary critters, living most of their adult lives in hollowed out trees or high among the branches. They’re far from any endangered lists and have a life expectancy of up to 30 years in the wild. Fern was a bit more active on move-in day before New Times' visit Wednesday, as shown below.
Fern, the year-old male, lost his mother Wilbur, 22, in November last year; but fortunately for Fern, he was already past the age of reliance on his mother. He seemed chipper about his new home Wednesday, sporting a smile from his penthouse bachelor pad.
