A Global Celebration of Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation
Golden Lion Tamarin (GLT) Day, celebrated every August 2, is a global day of action, awareness, and hope for one of the world’s most charismatic primates. Join us in celebrating the golden lion tamarins and supporting efforts to protect the species’ future and the Atlantic Forest it calls home. Learn how this day began here.
Credit: Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of International Golden Lion Tamarin Day!
This August 2, 2026, join us in marking the 10th anniversary of International Golden Lion Tamarin Day!
To commemorate this milestone, we are inviting zoos and aquariums around the world to help us take over social media with golden lion tamarins. Share a photo, video, keeper story, conservation update, or fun fact, to help spotlight one of conservation’s most inspiring success stories – one made possible through decades of dedication, collaboration, and support from zoos and aquariums worldwide.
Ready to join the celebration? Explore our GLT Day 2026 Zoo Toolkit for ready-to-use social media content, ideas for engaging visitors, the latest conservation updates, and resources highlighting the essential role zoos and aquariums play in GLT conservation. Together, we can showcase the power of conservation partnerships and inspire people everywhere to support golden lion tamarins and the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ways Everyone Can Celebrate GLT Day
GLT lovers everywhere can join the celebration by learning more about these amazing primates and sharing their story with others. Below are several ideas and resources that everyone can explore:
Visit golden lion tamarins at an accredited zoo or aquarium. Learn how these institutions contribute to their conservation through education, research, and breeding programs. Share your visit on social media with #GLTDay2026.
Learn about golden lion tamarins by reading the GLT Fact Sheet and About GLTs page to discover their biology, behavior and conservation status.
Explore the latest conservation updates by visiting our FAQs page and our 2025 Annual Report
Download this Pocket Identification Guide to learn about the four species of lion tamarins and other primates from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
Get creative. Download and share golden lion tamarin masks and coloring pages.
Watch and share inspiring stories. Explore our collection of films about GLT conservation and help spread awareness by sharing them with friends and family. Download the film synopses guide to help choose which films to watch and recommend.
Organize a fundraiser for GLT conservation online or through your school, workplace, neighborhood, place of worship, or community organization. Download our QR code or direct supporters to our donation page. Let us know about your fundraiser at contact@savetheliontamarin.org and we will be happy to provide additional resources and support.
Don’t forget to share your activities on social media with #GLTDay2026
How did our International GLT Day start?
Golden Lion Tamarin Day – August 2, 2016 - download the video!
Golden Lion Tamarin (GLT) Day is a special opportunity to raise awareness and take action to protect the GLT (Leontopithecus rosalia) – a vibrant symbol of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and a global conservation success story in the making. Celebrated each year on August 2nd, this special day was created by Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado (AMLD) in partnership with Save the Golden Lion Tamarin (SGLT) and officially recognized by the Brazilian government in 2018 to honor conservation achievements and inspire public support.
One of AMLD’s strategies to engage the local community in GLT conservation is to increase pride in the local forest and recognition that GLTs exist nowhere else in the world. On August 2, 2016, Andreia Martins, coordinator of the field team who monitors GLTs, carried the Olympic Flame through the region on its way to the Rio Olympic Games.
With local schools and businesses, AMLD organized a celebration in Silva Jardim, Andreia’s home town, recognizing Andreia and her field team as local heroes. Silva Jardim, is also where the largest population of wild GLTs live, in the federally protected Poço das Antas Biological Reserve and in the forest on private land. The Silva Jardim Municipal Council officially recognized August 2, 2016 as “Dia do Mico-Leão-Dourado” (Golden Lion Tamarin Day). AMLD and SGLT started celebrating International GLT Day the following year on August 2nd, 2017, and have supported GLT fans around the world in celebrating this day ever since.
In 2018, the Brazilian government officially declared August 2 as National Golden Lion Tamarin Day. Learn more about past GLT Day celebrations here.
2017 Brazilian Zoo Society's Year of the Golden Lion Tamarin - click here to download the video!
Produced in 2017 for use in a year-long educational campaign conducted by Brazilian Zoos, this film summarizes the history of golden lion tamarin conservation, current challenges, and conservation action.