Tasmania Zoo welcomes Red-Handed Tamarins

Yet to be named, the couple are just two years old and have been brought in as part of a breeding program due to their diminishing habitat in South America.

Head zookeeper Riley Lowe was confident the program will be successful due to their extensive experience with primates.

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"We have a really large primate collection and now since these guys arrived here, we actually have the largest number of primate species of any zoo in Australia," he said.

"We have a pretty good track record with a lot of our primates breeding, Common Marmosets and Pygmy Marmosets and some of our Tamarins as well, so our primates have definitely been one of our strongest breeding programs outside of Tasmanian Devils.

"They've got plenty of time ahead of them to be able to breed. They are still a relatively young pair, so they should have pretty good success once they get into the swing of it."

The primates have been at the zoo for a little under two weeks, however they've already captured the attention of those visiting.

"People are pretty amazed by them. They look like they're wearing little socks or little gloves and they're a little bit bigger than some of our other Tamarins," Mr Lowe said. "They definitely catch people's eye especially when they go up to the top of the enclosure. They're a bit weird looking, but that's why we like them."

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The Tamarins add to a plethora of new animals who have joined the zoo in recent times, meaning previous visitors would get a new experience if they were to come again.

"I think every time you come out here, visitors can pretty much expect to see something new, something different, we're always growing, we're always doing new species," he said.

"In the last 12 months, we've put in close to five or six new exhibits, so even if you came here a year ago, you're probably going to see something different and that's what we're aiming to do. We want people to have a new experience every time they come out to the zoo.

"We've definitely grown a lot since a lot of people have been out to visit, so I think that's one of the biggest things every time you come here. There's always going to be something different."

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