The pied tamarin is found in only one restricted area in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, where the pied tamarins are being protected from being hunted and poached in the forest or from being subjected to habitat loss in the form deforestation.
The pied tamarin is a very distinctive species of tamarin as it has a white chest and back, brown, tan or red hind legs and tail and a black hairless face. The pied tamarin is a highly territorial animal and is known to make a variety of calls to warn off unwanted visitors.
The pied tamarin is a diurnal primate which means that the pied tamarin is most active during the day and rests in the safety of the tree tops during the night. pied tamarins are very sociable animals and inhabit their territory with their rest of the pied tamarin troop which generally have between 3 and 15 members. Pied tamarin troops are led by the eldest female and have predominantly male members.
The pied tamarin is an omnivorous animal meaning that the pied tamarin hunts both plants and other animals in order to survive. Fruits, insects and green plants make up the majority of the pied tamarin's diet along with small rodents and reptiles, eggs and tree sap.
Due to the relatively small size of the pied tamarin, it has a number of predators within it's natural environment. Wild cats, dogs, snakes and birds of prey are primary predators of the pied tamarin, along with humans who are destroying their natural habitat.
The pied tamarin usually breeds between the months of April and July, when the female pied tamarin will give birth to twins (or a single infant) after a four to five month gestation period. The male pied tamarin's carry and groom infants more than the females do, but females clean the infant more than the males do. Older siblings are also known to contribute to infant care, although infants prefer to be carried by their parents than by their siblings. Infant pied tamarins become mobile at 2 to 5 weeks, and begin eating solid food at 4 to 7 weeks. They are independent at 10 to 18 weeks and are fully weaned at 15 to 25 weeks. Sexual maturity is attained at about 2 years of age.
Today, the pied tamarin population in the wild of South America has been declining in recent years primarily due to habitat loss caused by deforestation. The range of the pied tamarin is now restricted to just one part of the Brazilian rainforest where the pied tamarin inhabits a number of National parks and reserves.