Perth Zoo welcomes endangered monkeys

It is already home to African, Asian and Australian animals, but Perth Zoo is now making room for critically-endangered monkeys from South America.

A pair of golden lion tamarins, which now number fewer than 2000 in the wild, are part of the new Amazonia exhibition that has opened to the public.

The zoo hopes to breed the monkeys as part of a conservation program, which will also educate visitors on the illegal trade of wildlife.

The tamarins are joined by Bolivian squirrel monkeys and six coatis.

Zoo keeper Holly Thompson said she was confident the tamarins, under threat because of habitat destruction in Brazil, would breed successfully at the zoo.

"Their numbers are declining rapidly," she said.

"There were fewer than 200 in the wild and luckily an insurance program was set up for this species and now hopefully Perth Zoo will be contributing to that through our breeding program.

"We've had a lot of success in the past breeding a multiple of species here at the zoo."