Golden Lion Tamarin Monkey 'Pepe' Dies at National Zoo

PHOTO: Golden lion tamarin Pepe rests atop Vlad, a Linne’s two-toed sloth. Photo Credit: Clyde Nishimura, FONZ Photo Club

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The National Zoo announced the death of 7-year-old golden lion tamarin Pepe, who died Monday at the Vet Hospital. A final pathology report will provide more information. The median life expectancy of a golden lion tamarin is 8 years in the wild, according to the zoo.

A few weeks ago, keepers noticed that Pepe had labored breathing, the zoo said in an announcement. Diagnostic tests revealed thoracic disease. Zoo veterinarians removed fluid from his lungs and were able to stabilize Pepe. Despite treatment with supportive care and medications, he was found unresponsive Monday morning.

Pepe lived in a mixed-species exhibit with a Saki monkey, an agouti, a three-banded armadillo and a Linne’s two-toed sloth. He was often seen napping on and interacting with the sloth.

Pepe was an ambassador for his species, illustrating the behavior and social nature of golden lion tamarins to visitors and staff alike, the zoo noted. Pepe and his twin sister, Izabel, were the last surviving set of golden lion tamarin twins born at the National Zoo. Izabel died earlier this year. Zoo visitors can see four golden lion tamarins on exhibit in the Small Mammal House.

Here’s more information about golden lion tamarin monkeys, from the National Zoo:

• Golden lion tamarins are small orange-yellow monkeys, weighing 500 to 600 grams. They live in the heavily populated coastal region of Brazil, where less than two percent of the forest remains.
• They are endangered because their habitat has been fragmented into small, unconnected areas, each area only capable of supporting a small number of groups. Without intervention by the National Zoo, other zoos, organizations, and the Brazilian government, inbreeding would soon lead to the local extinction of many of these small populations of tamarins, and eventually of the entire species.
• About 1,500 golden lion tamarins (GLTs) live in the wild, most in or near the Reserva Biologica de Poço das Antas in the state of Rio de Janeiro. About 450 live in zoos worldwide.