A cute little tamarin monkey hops off mum’s back to explore on its own at London Zoo.   

The tiny four-inch tamarin, named for the vibrant colour of tamarin fruit, lives with parents Fabio and Valentina in the zoo’s temperature-controlled rainforest in Regent’s Park.

This is London’s only living rainforest, where the Brazilian species lives alongside two-toed sloths, tamanduas, tortoises and other threatened species.

Today (Wednesday, August 2) is International Golden Lion Tamarin Day, created to raise awareness of the plight of the species.

Tamarins face threats in the wild, from loss of habitat due to urbanisation and the illegal pet trade.

The wild tamarin population fell critically in the 1970s, with just 200 estimated left in the entire Brazilian jungles. Conservation zoos have worked with the Brazilian government since then to protect and even restore the species.

The tamarin’s conservation status was officially upgraded from “critically endangered” to “endangered” in 2003. A third of the wild population descended from golden lion tamarins are now raised at conservation sites like London Zoo.