With a population of less than 1,000 individuals, the golden-headed lion tamarin is one of the world's most endangered mammals. Decimated by illegal logging, irresponsible farming and the expansion of urban and suburban areas, less than 40,000 square miles, or about eight percent of the golden tamarin's native Atlantic Forest survives. For species like the tamarin -- that require room to roam in order to hunt, prey and find genetically differentiated mates in order to prevent inbreeding -- habitat fragmentation is leading to extinction. Which is why it's critical that forestry and farming in the Atlantic Forest region incorporates responsible practices that protect wildlife habitat. One hope for the golden lion tamarin is ecotourism. Villagers who live along the coastal Atlantic forest are finding that showing travelers who are eager to glimpse a flash of gold in the trees can be more profitable than farming. They charge a fee and take the binocular-toting tourists into the forests they know so well, in the hopes of spotting one of the rare and beautiful tamarins. Predators include hawks and other raptors, wild cats and large snakes.
