This website was completed by John Doehring in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Biology 323, Animal Behavior, at Davidson College in the Spring Semester 2007.

Golden Lion Tamarin

(Leontopithecus rosalia)

Save the Golden Lion Tamarin!

The golden lion tamarin is perhaps the most endangered species in the world.  There are approximately four hundred to five hundred individuals left in their only remaining habitat.  Furthermore, that habitat, a small section of the Eastern Brazilian Rainforest, is under heavy deforestation pressure and is constantly forcing the existing populations into areas that they otherwise would not occupy.  The Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Project has been in operation since 1983 (Jacobson, 1995).  While its primary goal is to save this species, the project also serves to raise rainforest protection awareness.  The lowland Atlantic rainforest area is also one of the most endangered rainforests in the world.  The protective zone of the project is only 5,000 hectares (or approx. twenty square miles).  The project centers on educational television programs aimed at (1) the importance of reducing deforestation (2) reducing fires within the protective zone (3) reducing illegal commerce of golden lion tamarins and (4) reducing illegal hunting in the reserve (Jacobson, 1995).

Spread the word:  Save the Golden Lion Tamarin!

Any questions regarding the content or design of this website should be sent to John Doehring or to Dr. Verna Case, Chair of the Biology Department at Davidson College.