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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Dean Foy

Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin

Leontopithecus rosalia chrysomelas

Physical Characteristics

  • Coat long and silky, black with golden mane
  • Size of average adult
    • length: 8 - 13 inches (head and body)
    • weight: 1 - 2 pounds
  • Approximate life span is 10-15 years in captivity.

Diet

  • Wild: primarily insects and fruits, also spiders, snails, lizards, bird eggs and small birds

Behavior

  • Diurnal
  • At night sleep in tree holes or occasionally in vines or epiphytes
  • Live in family groups-pair and their young
  • Reproduction
    • monogamous
    • sexual maturity: 15 months
    • seasonal breeding
    • estrus cycle: 2-3 weeks
    • gestation: 125-132 days
    • young born fully furred with eyes open
    • male or older offspring carry young returning them to female for nursing

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: prefer primary forest, reported in secondary forest under cultivation, usually found at a height of 3-10 meters in the trees
  • Distribution: small coastal area of the state of Bahia
  • Numbers: 200 in wild 150-170 captive
  • Status: Endangered, CITES Appendix I
    • illegal exportation
    • habitat destruction

Conservation Efforts

  • A reserve was established but is inadequate

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