Melinda, like all coordinators, works with the Master Plan for her species. This plan is filled with information that she gathers from other AZA institutions. An annual publication, it outlines the genetic history of every callimico monkey living at an accredited zoo in North America. Each individual is classified by sex and age, and they are assigned a numeric value to represent how important they are to breed. As a rule, animals with underrepresented genes in the zoo population are usually recommended to breed so that diversity can be maintained.

After Melinda consults the data she has collected, she contacts callimico representatives at participating zoos to make dates, if you will, to pair up potential breeding males and females. This involves a lot of planning to be sure that proper facilities are available and travel arrangements are made in sync so that the animals arrive in the right place at the right time.

Perhaps the most interesting part about the callimico SSP is that Brookfield Zoo was one of the first places to exhibit these primates in North America. “Our experts actually wrote the book on caring for this species. And the work done here has led the way in understanding callimico social behavior and the importance of the family group,” says Melinda.

More on the Callimico SSP:

  • After years of research, Chicago Zoological Society wrote the husbandry manual for callimico which is used as a guide for their SSP.

  • Chicago Zoological Society rescued a group of 10 callimico which were discovered at Miami International Airport in the late 1970s. The primates were mixed in with a group of other species in an illegal smuggling operation.

  • Since then, 727 individuals have been born on the continent’s zoo population—363 of them born at Brookfield Zoo. Check out this article which features a rearing success story.

  • Brookfield Zoo is also home to a group of callimico SSP advisors. This is notable because most SSP management professionals are spread across many institutions. (Our experts include: Dr. Jennifer Langan, Veterinary Advisor; Vince Sodaro, Husbandry Advisor; Mark Warneke, Studbook Keeper.)



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Brookfield Zoo
Melinda Pruett-Jones and Callimico at Brookfield Zoo
Callimico
Callimico range in South America, in the upper Amazon Basin region of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. At Brookfield Zoo, you can find them at Tropic World: South America.
Callimico
SSP Coordinator: Melinda Pruett-Jones, Vice President, Applied Research & Technology
“Being an SSP Coordinator is primarily about getting animals together,” says Melinda. “And I’ve enlisted everything from planes to trains and automobiles to make it happen. The cooperation of other zoos is key, though. Without their support none of this would be possible.”