Yellow fever in Brazil threatens successful recovery of endangered golden lion tamarins

James M Dietz,Luís Paulo Ferraz,Carlos R Ruiz-Miranda,Brenda Rocha Alexandre,Sarah J Hankerson,Malinda D Henry,Andréia F Martins

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49199-6

Abstract

The golden lion tamarin is an endangered primate endemic to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Centuries of deforestation reduced numbers to a few hundred individuals in isolated forest fragments 80 km from Rio de Janeiro city. Intensive conservation action including reintroduction of zoo-born tamarins into forest fragments 1984–2000, increased numbers to about 3,700 in 2014. Beginning in November 2016, southeastern Brazil experienced the most severe yellow fever epidemic/epizootic in the country in 80 years. In May 2018, we documented the first death of a golden lion tamarin due to yellow fever. We re-evaluated population sizes and compared them to results of a census completed in 2014. Tamarin numbers declined 32%, with ca. 2,516 individuals remaining in situ. Tamarin losses were significantly greater in forest fragments that were larger, had less forest edge and had better forest connectivity, factors that may favor the mosquito vectors of yellow fever. The future of golden lion tamarins depends on the extent of additional mortality, whether some tamarins survive the disease and acquire immunity, and the potential development of a vaccine to protect the species against yellow fever.

Highlights

Golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia; GLTs) are arboreal primates weighing ca. 600 g
The recent outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil began in December 2016 in Minas Gerais state and quickly spread to other states to the east and south[44]
Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado (AMLD) received reports of howler monkeys dying of yellow fever in Macaé municipality, the northern extreme of the distribution of GLTs in south-central Rio de Janeiro state[45]

Summary

Introduction

Golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia; GLTs) are arboreal primates weighing ca. 600 g (see Fig. 1). While captive breeding of GLTs was seen as a model for recovery of an endangered species, habitat loss and degradation continued unabated in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The goal was increased to 2,000 GLTs in at least 25,000 ha of connected and protected forest as a buffer against future loss of forest These science-based targets were adopted as conservation goals for the species in 2005. From 1994–1998, 42 native GLTs, i.e., animals not descended from zoo-born individuals were rescued from small forest fragments and translocated to a large fragment that would become the União Biological Reserve, Rio de Janeiro state. The lack of habitat connectivity results in reduced gene flow among GLT populations as evidenced by inbreeding and loss of alleles reported in 201723,24

Methods

Results

Conclusion