Twins for one of world’s most endangered primate species

One of the world’s most endangered primate species has given birth to tiny twin babies at Bristol Zoo Gardens.

The brightly coloured golden lion tamarins are just over two weeks old and can be seen clinging tightly to their parents’ backs in the Zona Brazil exhibit.

It is the first time Bristol Zoo has successfully bred the species and is a huge boost for the captive breeding programme for these rare creatures.

Bristol Zoo’s Assistant Curator of Mammals, Mel Gage, said the arrival of the youngsters is fantastic news: “The birth of two golden lion tamarins is brilliant for Bristol Zoo,” she said, “but it is also a massive boost to the numbers of these primates in captivity.”

Mel, who has worked with primates at Bristol Zoo for 11 years, added: “Captive breeding of animals such as these, which are facing the very real threat of extinction, is hugely important. They are also a lovely species to look at, with their golden fur and distinctive little faces, and having the opportunity to see them with their babies here at Bristol Zoo should not be missed.”

Golden lion tamarins are native to the tropical rainforests of Brazil where around 90 per cent of their original forest habitat has been cut down. There are about 1,000 left in the wild, mostly in a small patch of rainforests near Rio de Janiero.

There are 161 golden lion tamarins in captivity in Europeand Bristol Zoo Gardens is involved in a Europe-wide captive breeding programme for this species, as well as donating money to the Lion Tamarins of Brazil Fund each year.

Despite their low numbers, the conservation of golden lion tamarins in recent year has been a success story. In the 1970s the population fell to just 400 individuals. As a result, zoos and other organisations across the globe worked together on a carefully managed project to reintroduce captive-bred tamarins into the wild and the species was brought back from the brink of extinction.

Professor Anthony Rylands, deputy chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, said: “This is a great achievement, and demonstrates the key role that zoos, such as Bristol Zoo, play in the conservation of this species. About 170 captive-bred lion tamarins were released back into their forests in the 1980s and 90s, and today their offspring comprise nearly one-third of the entire population surviving in the wild.”

In 2003 golden lion tamarins were down-listed from ‘Critically Endangered’ to ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is hoped by 2025 there may be 2000 golden lion tamarins living in the wild.

Populations ofgolden lion tamarinsare still very small and there remains an urgent need for reforestation to provide new habitat for their long-term survival.

Almost half (48%) of the world’s 634 primate species are classified as threatened with extinction from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bushmeat hunting.

For more information about Bristol Zoo Gardens visit the zoo website at www.bristolzoo.org.ukor phone 0117 974 7300.

ENDS

Photos courtesy of Bob Pitchford.

For press enquiries please contact Bristol Zoo Press Office:

Lucy Parkinson, T : 0117 974 7306, or email: lparkinson@bristolzoo.org.uk

Vanessa Hollier, T: 0117 974 7309, email: vhollier@bristolzoo.org.uk

Golden Lion Tamarins – Fact file

• Golden lion tamarins are native to the tropical rainforests of eastern Brazil, South America.
• These tamarins exist mostly in small patchesof rainforest, principally two biological reserves-- Poço das Antasand União -- both nearRio de Janeiro.
• About 90 per cent of their original forest habitat has been cut down.
• Numbers in the wild have increased from a low of 400 in the 1970s, to around 1,600 today.
• WWF, the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC), and the Golden Lion Tamarin Association (Rio de Janeiro) are currently working to increase the protected area of forest available to these animals,and zoos have carried out areintroduction programof captive-bred tamarins to the wild.
• 170 captive-bred lion tamarins were reintroduced during the 1980s and 90s, giving rise to approximately 500 descendants living in the wild today, constituting about one-third of the entire wild population.
• The diet of golden lion tamarins consists of sweet fruits, flowers, insects and small lizards, frogs and snails.
• The golden lion tamarin is a small, squirrel-sized monkey, about 20-26 cm long with a 35 cm tail and long golden lion-like mane. It is covered in long silky golden fur.
• During the day the golden lion tamarins roam their territory looking for food. As evening falls, they return toa hole in a hollow tree or a tangle of vines to sleep.
• They live in small family groups of about four or five animals, consisting of a breeding pair and their youngest offspring.
• The young will stay with their parents after they are weaned and will help their parents raise the newest young.
• The parents have a strong pair-bond and will stay with each other for life.
• Like other tamarins, they produce a range of calls including ticks, clucks and whines that are used to communicate with other group members and from time to time with neighbouring groups.
• The adults’ brightly coloured fur is probably also a way of demonstrating their health and vigour to their partner and the rest of the group.
• The dominant female will give birth to one or two infants after a gestation period of about 130 days.
• The young are born fully furred and with their eyes open, although dependent on their family for another three to five months.
• All members of the group will help to carry infants, with the adult male commonly doing the lion’sshare.

Bristol Zoo Gardens

• Bristol Zoo Gardens is an education and conservation charity and relies on the income from visitors to support its work. 
• Throughout 2010 Bristol Zoo will be running a series of events to highlight the importance of conserving the world’s biodiversity, as part of the international Year of Biodiversity. For more information visit the Zoo website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk/about/conservation/campaigns/iyob
• To find out more about the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity visit the website at www.biodiversityislife.net
• Bristol Zoo is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day. 
• The Zoo is involved with more than 100 co-ordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species. 
• Itemploys 140 full and part-time staff to care for the animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work. 
• Bristol Zoo Gardens supports – through finance and skill sharing - 15 projects in the UK and abroad that conserveand protectsome of the world’s most endangered species.
• Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.
• In 2010, International Year of Biodiversity, Bristol Zoo Gardens set up a Conservation Fund to raise vital funds to help care for threatened animals and plants – both in the Zoo and through the conservation work we do in the UK and around the world.