The tiny monkeys arrived at Launceston's Tasmania Zoo early yesterday morning after flying in from interstate.

Native to Colombia, only 5000 tamarins are left in the wild.

The zoo hopes to one day start a breeding program to give their falling numbers a boost.

Tasmania Zoo owner Dick Warren said the tamarins were starting to settle in to their new enclosure.

"We've been chasing these for about five years and eventually we got hold of three from a little wildlife park on the mainland," Mr Warren said.

"These's not many left because their habitat is all being chopped down."

The three monkeys in the zoo are all female but staff are working on adding a male to the enclosure in the future.