Endangered Golden Lion Tamarin Joins Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Leaf, a 13-year-old female Golden Lion Tamarin, has joined the park from Chester Zoo after being carefully matched with resident male Demonio under the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) Ex-situ Breeding Programme (EEP).
29 July 2026
The scheme helps safeguard the future of endangered species through coordinated conservation breeding.
She is one of just 39 Golden Lion Tamarins living across 13 UK zoos and wildlife parks and will play an important role in helping to maintain a healthy and genetically diverse population of the species.
Dr Charlotte MacDonald, Director of Animals, said: "Breeding this endangered species is important for the global insurance population.
"Under 10% of their original coastal rainforest remains intact. Because their habitat is naturally broken into isolated patches, populations are small and prevented from breeding between groups.
"Outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases like yellow fever are also a major ongoing threat that can wipe out such vulnerable groups.
“She has settled in brilliantly and has now been fully introduced to Demonio and the other primates in the Amazonas reserve.”
Golden Lion Tamarins are instantly recognisable for their striking golden-orange fur, distinctive manes and expressive faces.
Native to the Atlantic coastal rainforests of Brazil, they are classified as endangered due to habitat loss, fragmentation of their forest home and disease outbreaks that continue to threaten wild populations.
The species was once reduced to around 200 in the wild, but decades of conservation work, including captive breeding, habitat restoration and successful reintroduction programmes, have helped bring them back from the brink of extinction.
As part of international conservation agreements, all Golden Lion Tamarins are owned by the Brazilian Government, which gives permission for them to be kept.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park now cares for the animals on Brazil's behalf while supporting conservation projects both in captivity and in the wild.
Greg Clifton, Section Manager of Primates and Carnivores at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and Chair of the EAZA Taxon Advisory Group for Callitrichids, said: "Welcoming Leaf is an exciting step forward for our primate team and our ongoing conservation work.
"By bringing her together with Demonio, we are playing a vital role in ensuring a genetically diverse and sustainable population of Golden Lion Tamarins for generations to come, particularly as wild populations continue to face threats such as disease and habitat loss."
In the wild, Golden Lion Tamarins sleep in different tree hollows and dense vines each night, helping to reduce scent trails that could lead predators to their location.
Priority conservation work for the species includes planting forest corridors to reconnect fragmented habitats and working alongside local landowners in Brazil to permanently protect the remaining rainforest.
To celebrate International Golden Lion Tamarin Day on Sunday 2nd August, Yorkshire Wildlife Park will be hosting a range of themed activities in the Amazonas reserve.
Visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about these remarkable primates and the conservation work helping to protect them.
There will also be the chance to enter a raffle, organised by the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation, to win a Primates of South America Experience, with proceeds supporting the Foundation's vital conservation work.
Visitors can see Leaf and Demonio in the Amazonas reserve while learning more about the international conservation efforts helping to secure the future of this remarkable primate.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which puts conservation at the heart of all its activities, offers visitors a mesmerising walk-through experience, coming almost face to face with some of the world's most beautiful and at-risk species, including Polar Bears, Black Rhinos, Giraffes and African Painted Dogs.
Yorkshire Wildlife Resort also boasts The Hex Wildlife Hotel and The Yorkshire Hive, the shopping, dining and entertainment village.
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