Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Endangered lion monkeys born in Zurich Zoo

golden lion money on its mother s back
Zürich Zoo is part of a European programme to save endangered species. Keystone

Two little golden lion tamarins, an endangered species of monkey, have recently been born in Zürich Zoo, taking to 11 the number in the Swiss zoological park.

They were born on February 5 and follow their mother everywhere for the moment, clinging firmly to her back, the zoo said on Wednesday. 

This endangered South American species lives in a family, feeding on insects, lizards, small amphibians, fruit, leaves or sap. 

At the end of the 1960s there were some 600 individuals in their natural habitat in Brazil, but a few years later there were no more than 100 to 200. 

Zürich Zoo is participating in a European animal conservation programme which helped reintroduce 146 golden lion tamarins into the Brazilian wild between 1984 and 2000. In 2005, the resulting population had grown to 589 individuals. In 2006 there were also some 220 other individuals resulting from transfers from an endangered natural habitat to a protected environment.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR