Golden Lion Tamarin

scientific name

Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia

size/weight/height

Head Body Length: 13.4 -15.75"
Tail Length: 10.25 - 15"
Weight: 22-25 oz

adaptations/coloration

Color: entirely golden • face bare
Coat: long hairs of crown, cheeks & sides of neck form upright mane
Face: bare

behavior

Group: live in small family groups
Movement: travel restricted to foraging • rarely wanders more than a mile from sleeping area

reproduction/lifespan

Lifespan: up to 15 years in captivity
Mating: monogamous
Gestation: 126-128 days
Birth: single or non-identical twins common
Parenting: males play major role in raising young • young go back to mother to nurse then return to dad (true of all marmoset & tamarins)

diet

Wild: flowers, fruit, frogs, lizards, nectar, insects, plant sap & snails
Zoo: Marmoset Diet, bananas, eggs, grapes & oranges

habitat/range

remnant forest patches of Atlantic lowland • eastern Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)

status

endangered • CITES App I • due to severe habitat destruction (logging, farming, road building & urbanization) • SSP • TAG

note

The Oregon Zoo participates in the Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Program, an international effort to preserve golden lion tamarins and their habitat in Brazil. For the past three summers, the Oregon Zoo has released a pair into the trees at Elephant Overlook, where they have the opportunity to learn skills that we hope will help them survive in the wild. They wear radio collars and are monitored every day by volunteers

oregon zoo exhibit

Primates

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