Join the Club
Hey, kids! Wanna join a club that really monkeys around? Well, if you like animals and want to help endangered species survive, the Conservation Kids' Club (formerly the Super Zoodle Kids’ Club) is looking for you! As a member, you'll help animals by learning more about them and by making earth-friendly choices that help conserve wild places.
The Conservation Kids’ Club mascot is the golden lion tamarin. This squirrel-sized monkey is one of the most endangered animals in the world, but with the help of many organizations including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, this monkey is getting a second chance to shine.
Golden lion tamarins, or GLTs, might be small but they have big hair—so big, in fact, that that's how they got their name. Their long golden hair grows around their faces and looks like a lion's mane. These golden beauties live in the coastal rainforest of Brazil.
Today only two percent of the original rainforest remains in the area where the GLTs live. When the trees disappeared, so did the GLTs. People cut the trees down to build houses and to clear land for their cows to graze. Now many people and organizations are planting new trees so the GLTs have more space to let their hair down.
Every spring, the National Zoo releases GLTs into the woods on Zoo grounds. They wear radio collars so Zoo staff and volunteers can keep track of their every move. The GLTs don't run away because they have everything they need: food, water, a companion, and a nest box to sleep in.
