BATON ROUGE - BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo announced the death of its newborn golden lion tamarin that was born at the zoo last Wednesday.

Zoo keepers found the baby in extremely weak condition on Monday and then placed it into veterinary care at the zoo’s George Felton, Jr. Veterinary Hospital. It died later that day. The cause of death is currently unknown. The golden lion tamarin is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List.

“Once it got to the hospital, we tried our best to revive its strength by providing it with heat and medication, but it just wasn’t enough to save it,”  Dr. Gordon Pirie, zoo veterinarian, said.

“All of us work cooperatively to help build these endangered animal populations, so we all feel the losses when they occur,” he said.

According to zoo officials, more than 40 percent of all golden lion tamarins die within the first 30 days of life. A necropsy will be performed by LSU veterinary staff later this month to help determine the official cause of death.