Two small endangered monkeys died because a caretaker "overlooked" them and left them out in the cold at a zoo in central Louisiana, officials said. 
 
 The cotton-top tamarins, which weigh less than a pound, were left out in the cold last week at the Alexandria Zoological Park, city officials said. A third monkey survived the exposure. 
 
 The monkeys are among the smallest new-world monkeys. They're black and white, with a fan of white hair atop the head. They need temperatures of 76 to 85 degrees. The high last Wednesday in Alexandria was in the 50s while the overnight low was in the teens. 
 
 It's not clear exactly how the monkeys were overlooked or whether they had an outdoor "nest box" with a heating unit. City spokeswoman Cynthia Jardon wrote in an email Tuesday that she couldn't provide details because of an ongoing investigation. The caretaker resigned Monday, she said. 
 
 The monkeys are critically endangered, with about 1,800 in captivity and about 6,000 in a small area of northwest Colombia, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 
 
 Public Works Director David Gill said in a news release "this appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem." 
 
 Federal inspectors did not find any violations during the zoo's 2012 or 2011 inspections, the latest available in an online database. Rob Vernon, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said the zoo is fully accredited. 
 
 Vernon said zoos are not required to report animal deaths immediately to either the USDA or the zoo association. He did not know whether the tamarins' deaths had been reported to AZA. 
 
 "They do often notify us right away when an animal dies. Then we oftentimes will ask for a report if something seems unusual," he said. 
 
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 Online: 
 
 Zoo: www.thealexandriazoo.com/ 
 
 Cotton-topped tamarin care: http://www.csew.com/cottontop/enhusbandry/ench5.htm ||||| Two cotton-top tamarins, similar to the one shown here, died of cold exposure last week at the Alexandria Zoo. The zoo employee who inadvertently left the monkeys in the cold has resigned. (Photo: Courtesy photo via Gannett) 
 
 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for a federal investigation of the recent deaths of two cotton-headed tamarins due to cold exposure at the Alexandria Zoo. 
 
 The city of Alexandria, which operates the zoo, said the small monkeys' deaths remain under investigation. 
 
 Three tamarins at the zoo were inadvertently left out in the cold on Jan. 7, and two of them died "as a direct result of the caretaker's responsibility for the evening," a city news release said. Temperatures were in the 30s that night. 
 
 The person responsible for caring for the animals has resigned from zoo employment, city officials said. 
 
 "The incident is under investigation," Public Works Director David Gill said. "The employee, who was initially on administrative leave and had been removed from any animal care, has resigned. This appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem." 
 
 Zoo Director Lee Ann Whitt called the incident "a tragedy." 
 
 PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel Delcianna Winders said in an email: "These tamarins lived a sad life of deprivation in captivity, and their deaths were totally preventable. 
 
 "This fatal neglect is all too common in zoos and other places where animals are displayed for human amusement, and that's why PETA's motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to use for entertainment.'" 
 
 PETA is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate the incident for possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. 
 
 "PETA wants enforcement to prevent any future act that could result in needless harm or deaths at the zoo," PETA's email said. 
 
 On Tuesday, PETA sent a letter to a USDA official to request an investigation of the "gross oversight" by the Alexandria Zoo regarding the deaths of the "two critically endangered cotton-top tamarins" and to ask that steps be taken to ensure the safety of the tamarin which survived the cold exposure as well as the safety of other animals at the zoo. 
 
 The letter was sent from Brittany Peet, deputy director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement for PETA Foundation, to Dr. Robert Gibbens, regional director for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Animal Care, Western Region. 
 
 Regarding the circumstances of the tamarins' deaths, Peet wrote, "… Such gross oversight by the zoo points to the following likely violations of the Animal Welfare Act: 
 
 "9 C.F.R. § 2.131 (b)(1) ('Handling of all animals shall be done as expeditiously and carefully as possible in a manner that does not cause trauma, overheating, excessive cooling, behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort.') 
 
 "9 C.F.R. § 3.85 ('Every person subject to the Animal Welfare regulations … maintaining nonhuman primates must have enough employees to carry out the level of husbandry practices and care required in this subpart. …') 
 
 "9 C.F.R. § 2.131(a) ('All licensees who maintain wild or exotic animals must demonstrate adequate experience and knowledge of the species they maintain.')" 
 
 Peet added: "Please also hold the zoo fully accountable for any and all violations that you discover during your investigation." 
 
 The cotton-top, or cotton-headed, tamarin is one of the world's smallest primates and is recognized by its fan of long, white hair on its head. The species is found in the tropical forests of northwest Colombia. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2015/01/13/peta-seeks-probe-tamarins-deaths-alexandria-zoo/21708793/ ||||| JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thandi the rhinoceros was left for dead by poachers nearly three years ago, meant to be among the 600 rhino killed in South Africa in 2012. She beat the odds, and after a slow recovery, has given birth to a healthy calf, game reserve managers announced Wednesday. 
 
 This handout photo from the Kariega Game Reserve taken Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 shows rhino poaching survivor Thandi with her newly born calf in the Kariega Game Reserve near Port Elizabeth, in the eastern... (Associated Press) 
 
 The calf's birth on Tuesday morning is being celebrated as the rhino population is under pressure from poaching. Rhinos are an endangered species hunted for their horn, as demand increases in some parts of Asia. More than 1,000 rhino were killed last year in South Africa, which houses the world's largest remaining rhino population, according to government statistics. 
 
 As soon as the calf could walk, Thandi led the newborn deeper into a now cordoned off area of the Kariega game reserve in the country's Eastern Cape province, said representative Bronwen d'Oliveira. 
 
 It took Thandi a long time to trust humans again after poachers hacked off her horn and left her to bleed to death along with two male rhinos in March 2012, said d'Oliveira. One of the males died immediately, while the other only survived for several weeks, she said. 
 
 "She was found in a pool of her own blood," she told the Associated Press. 
 
 Thandi, whose name means "to be loved" in the isiXhosa language, went through nearly three years of recovery, which included four skin graft procedures, said d'Oliveira. 
 
 Now, the mother and calf are doing well, according to the rhino's veterinarian William Fowlds, who observed the pair from a short distance, the game reserve said in a statement. The calf has not yet been named and its sex is still unknown. 
 
 The reserve is doing everything it can to protect the mother, calf and the remaining rhinos in the park, d'Oliveira said. The Kariega game reserve has appointed a rhino protection unit, security workers dedicating to guarding the animals, and each rhino wears a tracking device. 
 
 The reserve has also removed the animals' horns, a controversial decision because researchers have not yet determined the effects on the rhino. 
 
 "We would prefer them alive," said d'Oliveira.
– There are about 7,800 cotton-top tamarins left on the planet, 1,800 of them in captivity—and two fewer of the species of tiny monkey the AP dubs "critically endangered" after a Louisiana zookeeper apparently forgot about them and left them to freeze to death. The one-pound tamarins, which originate in a pocket of Colombian tropics, like it hot—between 76 and 85 degrees—and temps at the Alexandria Zoological Park last Wednesday dipped down into the teens, killing two while a third survived. City officials say an investigation is ongoing, though "this appears to have happened as a result of human error and not a system problem." The zookeeper was initially put on administrative leave, but resigned Monday. Predictably unimpressed is PETA, which was never a fan of zoos to begin with and is calling for a federal investigation, reports the Alexandria Town Talk. Says deputy general counsel Delcianna Winders, "These tamarins lived a sad life of deprivation in captivity, and their deaths were totally preventable. This fatal neglect is all too common in zoos and other places where animals are displayed for human amusement, and that's why PETA's motto reads, in part, that 'animals are not ours to use for entertainment.'" In a letter bemoaning the zoo's "gross oversight," it's asking the USDA to look into violations of the Animal Welfare Act and "hold the zoo fully accountable. (Things turned out much better for a rhino who survived a poaching attempt and gave birth Tuesday.)