Golden lion tamarin: a very rare primate that can disappear forever

The golden lion tamarin is a charming tiny primate that lives in one single place on the globe - in the Brazilian jungle on the Atlantic coast. Such selectivity has led the animal to the brink of extinction. And only timely measures taken by the Brazilian authorities helped temporarily stabilize the situation, although the threat of extinction still remains.

It is difficult to say why the golden lion tamarin chose this particular section of the jungle in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, but he lives exclusively here. And even when the coastal cities began to step on the jungle, the monkeys did not want to leave their usual places and go deep into the continent. Active infrastructural development of the coast, the expansion of cities and intensive logging have led to the fact that the natural habitat of tamarins has significantly decreased. Along with this, the abundance of the species fell, which in the 97th year of the last century was recognized as a species on the verge of extinction. At that time, there were only 400-500 of these primates in the wild.

Golden lion tamarines, or lion marmosets, very careful primates leading a flock of life. Every day they change the place of spending the night, each time looking for a new secluded shelter. The weight of these primates, like other marmosets, does not exceed 1 kilogram, and their nutrition consists of fruits, small animals and eggs found. It is noteworthy that the males of this species are very caring dads, who in the first months of life constantly carry cubs on themselves, protecting them from possible dangers.

After it turned out that tamarines are on the verge of extinction due to low abundance and closely related crosses, the Brazilian authorities did everything possible to stop the extinction of the species. A program was adopted to reintroduce animals into the wild, which is being implemented jointly with biologists from different countries and a number of zoos. During the existence of the program, about 400 animals were released into the wild. All the animals that are currently in the zoos of the world, and this is about 500 individuals, are officially the property of Brazil, and the data on their gene pool are listed in a special pedigree book to track family ties. Those animals that live in natural conditions, which are about 3200 individuals, are mainly concentrated on the territory of the biosphere reserve and are under special protection. It is hoped that the measures taken will help save the natural habitat of these tiny animals and preserve this species on our planet.