A first in Brazil: Black-faced lion tamarins vaccinated

Researchers from the Brazilian NGO SPVS vaccinated three black-faced lion tamarins against yellow fever in Paraná state in July 2026, a first for the species, which the IUCN estimates at around 250 adult individuals. The animals were captured, weighed and treated by a veterinary team working against a tight clock.

The species, split since the 1950s by an artificial canal that created Superagui Island, has no captive insurance population anywhere, meaning a disease outbreak in the wild could wipe it out entirely. Howler monkeys in the same area have already vanished from past yellow fever outbreaks, a warning sign researchers point to directly.

SPVS took over coordinating conservation efforts in 2018 after noting that essentially nobody had been actively studying or protecting the animal for years.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.