It's a girl! Baby emperor tamarin born at the Racine Zoo; officials say "We couldn’t be happier"

RACINE -- The Racine Zoo announced on Friday, Jan. 19 that a breeding pair of emperor tamarins gave birth to a single female in the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 27.

Mom Isabella, from New England Zoo and dad Marquis, from San Francisco Zoo have been mates since the summer of 2012. This is the sixth tamarin birth at the Racine Zoo since then.

“We couldn’t be happier for this tamarin birth,” said Crystal Champeau-Williams, primary primate specialist in a news release. “Our breeding pair are such great parents and with only 27 individuals in zoos, we hope they continue to help improve the genetics of this small, captive population.”

Zoo officials say over the past three years, the population of emperor tamarins has grown by an average of 7%. Isabella and Marquis have contributed greatly to this growth, with a single birth in 2015, a set of twins born in 2016 and another set of twins in 2017. Isabella is one of two reliably breeding females at the moment.

Emperor tamarins