The species of the black tufted-ear marmoset originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, while the golden-handed tamarin species originated north of the Amazon river (in Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, and Venezuela). So how do these species end up in North America when they don't even belong in this hemisphere? Humans of course! Sadly, Willy and Arie were stolen from their parents and sold as pets. Happily, they have found a home here at Jungle Friends, where they are free to act like monkeys and are safe from humans who may harm them. If these two new world primates were released somewhere other than Jungle Friends, they would likely survive on their own. However, they are far too humanized, and would likely find themselves in deep trouble when they approached the next human they saw. At Jungle Friends, we give the "Munchkins" a 12'x12'x12' outdoor habitat and access to an indoor shelter. Here, they are free to jump, climb, eat bugs (along with their dry and wet food diets), and live happily as wild monkeys should!
In the wild, these species do not live on their own. They are not denied access to other monkeys. This is why Kari, the founder of Jungle Friends, and I are in the process of resocializing Willy and Arie. They may be two different species, and both males, but at Jungle Friends, we are totally against breaking bonds! Willy and Arie have already experience the bonds to their parents being broken. They then experience being separated from their owners. We do not want to cause a third broken bond by keeping these two separated.
Broken bonds can cause severe side effects. A common effect experienced by these monkeys is called reactive attachment disorder. When these monkeys are young, they need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal development of social and emotional characteristics. Naturally, the primary caregiver is the father, while all family members act as some sort of caregiver. However, when these monkeys become pets, the initial bond between parent and offspring is broken, and a new bond is formed between the pet and owner. Reactive attachment disorder can be caused by abrupt separation from their primary caregiver, from a frequent change of caregivers, and by lack of a caregiver's response to the young monkey's efforts of communication.
Sometimes after the third bond is broken, an animal will never trust again, as with the marmoset MoMo. He was taken from his parents, from his owner, and the female he was initially paired with at Jungle Friends died. He now lives alone in his habitat because he has fought with the other other moneys he has been socialized with.
Our goal the first few days of socializing is no fights. To be safe, we are observing Willy and Arie constantly while they are together, and are limiting their time of having full access to each other. In the days before the socialization, we allowed the two monkeys to be separated by no more than one fork in their runways. We observed the boys showing interest in each other, and even saw them grooming one another through the fork!
Also, during the socialization, pictures and videos are being taken. These records will be compiled into a video that will help anyone who wants to socialize two monkeys properly, whether it be in another sanctuary, or in a pet owners backyard. We will also be creating videos of how to construct a proper habitat for a monkey and other necessities.
Day One
When we removed the fork from the runway between Willy and Arie, the first thing they did was trade habitats. Throughout the next hour, the two males ignored each other and interacted very little. While in each other's habitat, the boys explored and did scent marking. Kari and I decided to put the fork back in the runway when Willy started to "self grasp," which can be a sign of stress in monkeys who were taken from their parents at a young age. We considered day one's socialization to be a success, as no fights occurred, and looked forward to day two!
Day Two
Today we socialized Willy and Arie for about two hours! Soon after the fork was pulled, there was a massive improvement from day one, in that the boys show interest in one another and interacted more. One of the first things they did was return to their original habitat and explore what was different (scent markings from the other monkey). During the socialization we saw great things such as the two monkeys eating from the same diet bowl, laying near each other, and even grooming one another! However, we also noticed that at multiple times during the socialization, Willy attempted to mount Arie. This may be the reason for the initial fight, and we plan to closely monitor the safety and happiness of both monkeys. While we know the monkeys would be much happier is male-female pairs, there are no females available at Jungle Friends to be matched with the new tamarin and marmoset. Seeing as these two males lived together before their arrival at Jungle Friends, we are attempting this socialization whit the hopes that both monkeys will be safe, happy, and healthy. After about two hours, Willy and Arie were in different habitats, and Kari and I took the opportunity to end the second socialization day on a good note. We replaced the forks and were thankful for another successful day in the socialization process.
