Meet the Golden Lion Tamarin

Posted: 17-Jan-2002; Updated: 14-Jul-2003

Species name: Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithcecus rosalia)

Habitat: Undisturbed coastal rainforest

Range: Isolated populations in Brazil.

Population: About 400 in the wild; over 500 in more than 100 zoos worldwide.

(Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution)

The golden lion tamarin is a squirrel-sized monkey with brilliant orange-gold fur. In small family groups, it roams Brazil's coastal rainforest, which is the most endangered tropical forest in the world. Over 98 percent of this ecosystem, which differs significantly from other South American forests, has vanished and what remains is fragmented. The golden lion tamarin groups usually give birth to twins and care for them cooperatively, with the adult male customarily carrying them as the group travels. Tamarins feed on fruit, insects, and small animals, and sleep in tree holes, which provide protection from predators and facilitate heat conservation. Successful zoo breeding programs -- from which animals have been reintroduced into the wild -- and protection of more coastal forest have made the tamarins' future more secure.