 The
Black-mantled Tamarin - Issue Nineteen |
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Get
To Know
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By Roy Blokker
Roy Blokker was born in Holland in 1950. His parents immigrated when he was two. Roy graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, cutting his teeth on social issues while reaching maturity (debatably, according to many) during the Sixties. He worked as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service for 31 years. Roy is now retired and devoting his energies to the art and the craft of writing. He has written The Music of Dmitri Shostakovich: The Symphonies (with Robert Dearling), the novel Amber Waves, and five collections of poetry, the latest of which is a tribute to the soldier-poets of World War One entitled Charles Sorley's Ghost. His work has appeared in The American Dissident, Clever, Black Heart, First Line, American Aesthetic, Leaves of Ink, and Highlights for Children, among others. Roy and his bride of forty years lives in Glacier country in Montana. |
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The
Black-mantled Tamarin is a species of tamarin from the northwestern
Amazon in far western Brazil, southeastern Colombia and northeastern
Peru where they mainly eats insects, leaves, and fruit. They are
15–28 cm in length and their tail length is 27–42 cm. Family groups
consisting of a male, a female and 1 or 2 young live in a defined
territory - the female marks branches on the boundaries of the territory
with secretions of her anal glands and urine. The female gives birth
to 2 young after a gestation of 140 to 150 days. They are listed
as Least Concern due to its adaptability to disturbed habitats,
presumed large populations, and occurrence in a number of protected
areas. It is not believed to be declining at a rate sufficient to
qualify for a threatened category. Although they were captured for
export for biomedical research in the 60s and 70s, they are still
common.