Brooklyn, N.Y. – June 26, 2014 – A golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) mother and its baby perch on a branch at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo.

The young tamarin was born on May 9.

Golden lion tamarins are listed as Endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), with only about 1,000 animals surviving in nature. The breeding of the species is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan, a cooperative breeding program designed to enhance the genetic viability and demographic stability of animal populations in zoos.

Golden lion tamarins are small monkeys native to the Atlantic rainforests of Brazil. Although they stand just ten inches tall, they are the largest of their taxonomic family, which includes other tamarin species and marmosets.

In the wild, all members of a golden lion tamarin family group assist in the care of the young. This provides juvenile golden lion tamarins with experience for when they start their own families. The Prospect Park Zoo’s golden lion tamarin group has seven members. The zoo is also home to Geoffrey’s marmosets, another species of monkey native to Brazil.

CONTACT:
Barbara Russo: 718-265-3428; brusso@wcs.org
Max Pulsinelli: 718-220-5182; mpulsinelli@wcs.org
Steve Fairchild: 718-220-5189; sfairchild@wcs.org
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo – $8.00 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and older, $5 for kids 3-12, free for children under 3. Zoo hours are 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. weekdays, and to 5:30 P.M. on weekends and holidays, April through October. 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. November through March. The Prospect Park Zoo is located at 450 Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. For further information, call 718-399-7339 or visit www.prospectparkzoo.com

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: www.wcs.org; facebook.com/TheWCS; youtube.com/user/WCSMedia; follow: @theWCS.

Note to the Media: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a Web link where they can make donations in support of helping save wildlife and wild places, please direct them to www.wcs.org.