Why Should We Save The Golden Lion Tamarin?

A golden lion tamarin eating

We must protect Golden lion tamarins because they play an important role in seed dispersal in Brazil’s Mata Atlantica according to researchers writing in the journal Tropical Conservation Science. These researchers tracked seeds spread by these tamarins in the Atlantic rainforest in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where golden lion tamarins have been reintroduced. They found that 25% of the 88 species of plants eaten by golden lion tamarins grew and reached juvenile stages over the course of their experiment, showing that golden lion tamarins promote forest recovery in areas where it lives. Golden lion tamarins disperse large numbers of seeds. According to https://news.mongabay.com, the time of the seeds in the gut is long enough for seeds to move some distance away from their origin. The golden lion tamarin uses secondary forest (forest that has been cut down), forest edges and forest interior while foraging for fruits. This behavior promotes the flow of seeds between different habitat types. This is why the golden lion tamarins important to the rainforest that it inhabits and why we must protect it.