Hershey is a cotton-top tamarin who was born on February 25, 1996 and arrived at Jungle Friends on July 14, 2008 with nine other special-needs tamarins. These monkeys found a home at Jungle Friends when a research laboratory closed its doors.

Originally there were seventy cotton-top tamarins in need of homes. It took a full year of planning, fundraising, building and networking with other sanctuaries and organizations to find placements for all seventy.

The ten who arrived here at Jungle Friends were flown to Orlando where we picked them up. It was after dark when we reached the sanctuary, so we took our new residents directly to Tamarin Town. We put the carriers into the indoor enclosures and left the carrier doors open for a 'soft release', meaning the monkeys would choose for themselves when they wanted to venture out into unknown territory.

Hershey and his companion Gatsby decided that they would just stay put for a while, but by late the next morning they cautiously emerged out of their carriers to join the other brave souls — and oh the chatter!

Hershey and Gatsby are never far from each other, they are both very interested in every detail of their new home — discovering the great outdoors for the first time, getting a taste of a new, larger life — and reminding us why we do what we do!

Hershey may be the cutest tamarin in the world! He loves his peanuts, and is an expert at cracking them. He is also outgoing and very sweet. Hershey's diet is monitored closely since he was diabetic. However, he has been testing negative for the past two years.