Black-faced lion tamarin are small, 12-inch long monkeys with black faces and gold faces. They are critically endangered and one of the world's rarest species partially because they are forest dwellers. The number of black-faced lion tamarins are rapidly declining. They have gone from being on the endangered list in 1994 to the critically endangered list in 1996. By 2003, environmentalists announced that their population trend is decreasing. They are having a problem surviving because of deforestation for cattle ranches and tourism. The harvesting of palm hearts is another issue because they typically live in areas with plenty of palms.
Golden lion tamarins are monkeys that are about the same size as the black-faced lion tamarin, although they have bodies that are completely gold. They are also similar because they are rapidly decreasing for similar reasons. They live in areas of the rain forest that are being demolished to grow crops and raise cattle. Another reason they are decreasing is that they have been used as food and sold in markets for pets. Some were also utilized for biomedical research and shown in zoos. Another reason they are in decline is that people in Brazil used to think they carried malaria and yellow fever, which is why they killed many of them.
Jaguars are a species of feline that are at a high risk for extinction for several reasons. They need a large area of land to hunt on, which can be a problem with an increasing amount of land being used for tourism and agriculture. Another reason is that they have to have a large gene pool for mating, which can be an issue as the species grows smaller and smaller in the wild. Their decreasing habitat and population means that their species may be completely eliminated from the wild and continue to survive only in protected, supervised areas.
Wild puma, another feline indigenous to Brazil, are also in decline. One of the main threats that they face is lack of prey availability to fulfill their carnivorous diet. Another is that humans have altered their habitat, which can leave them without safe homes. Also, ranchers actively try to poison pumas because they are a threat to their livestock.
The Lear's macaw is one of the world's most scarce animals. They are blue, nut-eating birds. They are significantly scarce because traders capture them and sell them in markets. Another couple reasons they are so rare is that they are hunted and because their habitat has changed significantly. The Brazilian government works hard trying to salvage this species. Keeping a Lear's macaw in captivity is considered illegal and can be seriously punished. Although smuggling them abroad is illegal too, people have made attempts that have resulted in the death of a Lear's macaw.
