The monkey that could save the world

Environmental groups have enlisted one of the world’s most distinctive and rare mammals, the golden lion tamarin, in their campaign to prevent irreversible climate change damaging the planet.

The orange-maned tamarins, whose name derives from their resemblance to antique Chinese drawings of lions, are on the brink of extinction because their habitat, Brazil’s unique Atlantic rainforest, has been all but eradicated. Barely 4 per cent is left.