Six Tamarins in the Midday Shade

The midday heat was pressing down hard when Omar Enrique Berdugo Cabeza made his way into the reserve, carrying fruit for the tamarin group. When he reached the feeding station, there was no sign of them — so he turned to the sound of the tank, that familiar call the monkeys have learned to recognize — and slowly, three of them appeared, came down to eat, then slipped back the way they came. Omar followed their trail to the coordinates of the refuge, and there they all were, all six: tucked into the densest stretch of vegetation, seeking the cool that the forest offers when the sun bears down. While the group rested in the shade, two poyonetas drifted through the surrounding canopy — those silent raptors that remind the tamarins, every now and then, that the forest has rules of its own. The record came to nine videos — a few ended up tangled in the B20 thread, two separate stories that for a moment shared the same feed before Omar sorted them apart. Six individuals, accounted for, resting cool inside their refuge.