Visitors to the Santa Barbara Zoo will notice some new additions.
Two Goeldi’s monkeys now call the zoo home.
Brothers George Michael, age 3, and Jimi, age 2, came to the Santa Barbara Zoo from Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Mass.
“The Santa Barbara Zoo has had Goeldi’s monkeys in our animal population previously, but it was years ago, so for many of our keepers who were not around then, it’s exciting for them to work with a new primate species,” said Dr. Julie Barnes, the Santa Barbara Zoo’s vice president of Animal Care & Health. “While these monkeys are very small, they have really big personalities and are very active and inquisitive!”
Goeldi's monkeys are found in areas of the Amazon rainforest and are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature as vulnerable.
Their average height, not including their long tails, is 8-9 inches and they are capable of leaping around 13 feet between branches, according to the zoo.
The small primates eat fruit, vegetables, insects, leafy greats, seeds and nuts and have shaggy black hair and claw-like nails.
George Michael and Jimi share the same habitat as the zoo’s White-face saki monkeys.
