Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton
A baby cotton-top tamarin monkey rides around on her mother, Maggie, at the Chattanooga Zoo on Tuesday afternoon. She and Fang had their first baby on May 5. Zookeeper Kate Warner said none of the staff will touch the baby until it is more than a year old. Tamarins in captivity typically reject babies born there, making Maggie and Fang's parenting an exciting anomaly.

Chattanooga Zoo staff members announced Wednesday the death of Maya, the cotton-top tamarin born in May, a news release said.

The extremely endangered monkey’s birth in captivity was widely publicized last summer.

But after staff noticed that Maya seemed to lose her balance a few days ago, the veterinarian who first treated the monkey did blood work and X-rays to determine what was making her sick. The tests were inconclusive.

After taking her to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Veterinarian School, personnel discovered that Maya developed cryptococcus neoformans, a fungus that lives in both plants and animals. The fungus often is difficult to diagnose until symptoms are too advanced to treat, officials said.

“All of our animal ambassadors are precious to us and we do all we can to make sure they live long and healthy lives,” said Chattanooga Zoo Director Dardenelle Long. “Maya’s mom, dad and newly born siblings are all asymptomatic and we are keeping a close watch on all of them.”

Ms. Long lamented the loss of a rare creature.

“The birth of an extremely endangered species in captivity is always something that thrills us, and Maya’s death is very difficult for the entire staff,” she said.