A sudden spike in wildlife traffickers’ interest in golden lion tamarins threatens one of Brazil’s iconic endangered animals.Seizures in Togo, Suriname and in the Brazilian Amazon reveal sophisticated criminal networks that control international routes, sometimes using forged documents.Behind one of these criminal organizations is a man with multiple forged passports that subjected 20 tamarins to a 40-day voyage across the Atlantic.Some tamarins are smuggled; traffickers also use loopholes in wildlife trade rules to launder wild-caught animals within captive-bred shipments.
Smuggled in cars, aboard airplanes, or on sailboats crossing the Atlantic Ocean, tiny golden-furred monkeys are being wrenched from their Brazilian forest homes and trafficked overseas by sophisticated criminal networks.
These golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) are moved through Latin America and Africa, with strong indications that they are bound for the Asian black market. Collectors are willing to pay as much as $100,000 for this friendly animal, which is one of Brazil’s conservation symbols. Some of the tamarins die before reaching their destination. Those that survive may end their journey emaciated, sick and sometimes, mutilated.
