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The golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) is an eye-catching monkey. A thick, lionlike mane surrounds this small primate’s face. Long reddish-gold silky fur covers its body. Its fingers taper to strong, clawlike nails. And its tail is twice as long as its body!
Basic facts:
Class: mammals
Order: primates
Family: marmosets, tamarins
Length of the Body: 8 to 131/2 inches (20 to 34 centimeters)
Length of the Tail: 121/2 to 16 inches (32 to 41 centimeters)
Weight: 131/2 to 25 ounces (383 to 709 grams)
Diet: insects, fruits, flowers, leaves, lizards, eggs, nestlings, and frogs
Number of Young: 1 or 2
Home: Brazil
Golden lion tamarins live only in the coastal mountain rain forests of southeastern Brazil. Active by day, they scamper and leap through the top branches of trees. They live in small family groups of up to eight members. Like other primates, they are social animals. They often spend time grooming each other. And the young love to wrestle and chase each other. In the evening, each family group retreats to a tree hole or plant thicket to rest. Their favorite foods include tender blossoms, amphibians, small birds, and lizards.
The female golden lion tamarin gives birth to one or two young after a pregnancy of about 41/2 months. (Occasionally, a mother will give birth to triplets.) All members of a family group help raise the young monkeys. A 3-month-old tamarin is mature enough to feed itself and travel alongside its parents. Golden lion tamarins can live up to 12 years in the wild. In captivity, they can live more than 20 years.
Golden lion tamarins are an endangered species. There are fewer than 1,500 in the wild. Logging and development have greatly reduced the monkeys' habitat. There are about 500 golden lion tamarins in zoos around the world. Zoologists have successfully introduced some animals from captive breeding programs into nature preserves near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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