Over the past 4 years, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has granted over $44,000 to Fundacion Proyecto Titi. These grants have supported documenting the remaining forest habitat suitable for cotton-top tamarin populations in northern Colombia, conducting a population census of cotton-top tamarins in northern Colombia, and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation activities in Colombia by examining the current size of the cotton-top tamarin population and remaining forest habitat.
Sarah Johnson is an animal care specialist from Busch Gardens Tampa, working in Myombe Reserve with gorillas, chimpanzees and a wide range of other animals, including cotton top tamarins. Sarah is travelling to Colombia to work with Fundacion Proyecto Titi as part of our Conservation Ambassador program. Proyecto Titi was founded in Colombia in 1985 to use field research, education initiatives, and community programs to help the plight of cotton top tamarins. Cotton top tamarins are one of the most endangered primates in the world due to habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade. Cotton top tamarins have very limited distribution in northwest Colombia’s tropical dry forest, a unique habitat very different from the tropical rainforest found further south. These forests experience a dry season from December-April when the trees leaves will turn brown and some will fall off.
For the next two weeks we’ll be sharing Sarah’s journal as she posts from Colombia about her work with Fundacion Proyecto Titi. You can follow the daily journal by becoming a Facebook fan of the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Fund page.
