Spotlight on Students: Primate Conservation Issues (New World Primates)

The following is two of two guest posts featuring the work of students enrolled in my Anth 102 courses.  These students are highlighting the importance of primate conservation and featuring specific primates that are currently endangered.  I hope you find these pieces informative and are inspired to make a positive change in the world that will help these and other endangered primates.

Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey

Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey 

By Teisha Adlish (Anth 102: 1501)
 

The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is one of South America’s endangered primates. The Woolly Monkey, also known as Oreonax flavicauda, has been listed as endangered since October 1979 (Glenn). The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is a New World monkey that lives in the trees of the Peruvian Andes Mountains, often in isolated and difficult to find areas. For this reason the monkey was thought to be extinct until a small group of them was rediscovered in 1974 (Glenn). The monkeys have thick, reddish-brown, woolly fur and a yellow scrotal or vaginal tuft of fur, which led to the name “Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey” (Yellow-tailed).  The monkeys are New World monkeys and have a prehensile tail that aids greatly in their arboreal environment. The average Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey male weighs 18.3 pounds and the average female weighs 12.5 pounds (Glenn). They are diurnal and live in groups ranging from four to thirty individuals (Yellow-tailed), usually with one male for every three or four females (Glenn). The diet of the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey consists mainly of fruits, leaves, and buds (Glenn).  As of 1999, which was the last time the population size was estimated, there were only 250 Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys in existence. This number is so low for three main reasons: low birth rate within the species, “human-induced habitat loss and degradation”, and the problem of being hunted or captured (Gron).

              
The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey has a low birth rate, which is a factor in their small and further dwindling population numbers. It is estimated that each female only bears one offspring every three years (Gron). The other two causes of the monkey’s endangered status are much more damaging to the population than a low birth rate. Human destruction of habitat affects countless species of organisms. In the case of the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey the devastation comes from logging, deforestation, and fragmentation due to construction of roads through their existing habitat (Gron). The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is arboreal; any type of logging, or cutting down trees for any reason, has an impact on their habitat. When paths are cleared to create roads more trees are cut down, and more Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey habitat is lost. Since the 1970s roads have been build that dissect the habitat of the monkeys and create new boundaries, a loss of resources, more pollution, and new predators (Yellow-tailed). Land is also cleared for agriculture, raising cattle, and human habitation, which only intensifies the loss of habitat for the Yellow-tailed Wooly Monkey (Gron).

The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is also endangered because humans hunt them. For decades the areas where the monkeys live were practically inaccessible. Deep forests with few or no routes leading in and out kept the monkeys somewhat protected from human invaders. The more that humans encroach on monkey territory, the more the monkeys are threatened. Humans hunt them for food and also capture them to sell as pets and novelties (Gron). The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey uses a loud call to signal to other monkeys when danger is present. This noise has the unfortunate side effect of alerting hunters to the location of the monkeys, making them an easy target (Gron).

            
The most important tool in preservation of the Yellow-tailed Woolly monkey is education. It is important to both educate the scientific community through more and better research on the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey; and it is crucial to educate the people and groups who endanger the monkeys. By learning more about the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey we can create more effective means of conservation. The scientific community currently lacks this knowledge due to a lack of data on the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey. Also, by teaching hunters how to substitute the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey with other means of subsistence and about the risks of species extinction, we can help save the species. If more information is given to those who are allowing the fragmentation of habitats, deforestation, and logging then there is a greater possibility of action being taken to prevent or change these acts and decrease their destructive effects.  

            
This species, similar to other primates that consume fruit and plants, is incredibly helpful in seed dispersal. Through consumption and elimination of seeds and parts of plants, trees, fruits, and flowers the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys spread seeds and help fertilize the plant life in their area. All species are a part of the much larger web of organisms in a given environment today. From fungus to plants, insects, reptiles, mammals, and back down to decomposers and bacteria; each and every organism in an environment is dependent on another organism or needed by another organism for subsistence and survival. The loss of one species of primate may not seem overwhelmingly significant, yet the effects can be massive. All endangered species must be preserved carefully for myriad reasons, some that we cannot understand until it is too late and their effects have already been felt. For example, if a species were to no longer exist the survival of any other organism associated with the extinct species could then be in put in jeopardy.

            
The Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is a rare primate and population sizes continue to decrease. Since human discovery and destruction of their habitats began in the 1970s, the monkeys have had dwindling hope for longevity of their species. Efforts for conservation may take place by means of restricting human intrusion into the area inhabited by these monkeys; or more importantly, efforts can be focused on education as to critical state of the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and why they are important to their environment. Without action against further habitat destruction and hunting of the species the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey does not have the chance they need to survive and reproduce. All species are crucial contributors to their environment and it would be a devastation to lose the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey forever. In order to prevent that from happening we may educate, inform, and act on this knowledge to prevent further extinction of the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey.

Works Cited:

Glenn, C.R.. "Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey Facts."Earth's Endangered Creatures. EEC, 20 Dec. 2007. Web. 25 Mar 2014.

Gron, Kurt. "Primate Factsheets: Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey." Primate Info Network. National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 30 Sept 2010. Web. 26 Mar 2014.

Shanee, Sam, and Noga Shanee. Neotropical Primate Conservation. N.p., n. d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

"Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey." EDGE: Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered. ZSL Living Conservation. Web. 25 Mar 2014.

 

Ka'apor Capuchin Monkey

Cebus Kaapori; The Ka’apor Capuchin Monkey

By: Shelby Pierce (Anth 102: 1002)

Many animal species today are now extinct or becoming extinct. They are rapidly decreasing in numbers. One group that is decreasing dramatically is primates. There are many reasons as to why they have been becoming extinct, whether it is by humans or the natural habitat causing their extinction. The Ka’apor capuchin monkey, in particular, is critically endangered by humans destroying their habitat. Humans are the main cause as to why these primates, along with many other animals, are becoming extinct.

Cebus Kapori, Ka’apor capuchin monkey, falls in the order primates and family cebidae.  These small monkeys were considered critically endangered since 2000. They are small and weigh between four to six pounds.  They are arboreal (tree dwelling) primates and live in groups with a several dozen others.  They are named after the Urubu-Ka’apor Indians because they are originated in the same region as them http://www.animalinfo.org/species/primate/cebukaap.htm).

Humans are the major cause as to why these small intelligent monkeys are becoming extinct.  The main reason we are pushing them to extinction is because we cause habitat loss to them.  The forests in southern Pará and Maranhão have been drastically destroyed in just the last ten years and the conditions of these forests continue to get worst.  This region where the Ka’por capuchin monkeys are located has one of the highest human populations and highest levels of deforestation. Lopes (1993) said that selective logging was particularly prejudicial to the monkeys due to loss of trees that provide the fruit that are significant to them.  Besides ruining their habitat, humans are capturing them and using them in illegal pet trade.  The main hunters of them are the Guajá Indians who also capture them and keep as pets, as well http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/40019/0).  

Unfortunately the monkeys are critically endangered, but there are ways to help protect the endangered monkeys but no real way to make sure that they do not die out.  Humans can do as much as we can for them, but sometimes it is not enough.  We can start by making sure that their protected habitat does not dwindle away anymore by selective logging since that is one of the major causes to their habitat loss.  More than half of the currently protected area lost its forests because of this selective logging.  That is a drastic amount.  The trees that were cut and lost carried fruit important to the diet of these small monkeys.  The International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) has documented a drastic decline in numbers of at least 80% over the past three generations (http://mungaiandthegoaconstrictor.me/2013/11/18/fast-fact-attack-endangered-species-no-79-the-kaapor-capuchin-monkey/).

Primates, along with all other animals, should not be extinct due to human factors.  We should play no part in it, in my opinion.  I understand that there is such thing as natural selection, evolution, and nature laws. We should be doing our best to preserve the animals on this planet because they all play an important role. The Ka’por capuchin monkey is a very intelligent little monkey.  Besides humans and apes they are the only other recorded primate using the anvil system to crack open hard shelled nuts. They are talkative, curious, mischievous, and have various form of communication patterns (http://mungaiandthegoaconstrictor.me/2013/11/18/fast-fact-attack-endangered-species-no-79-the-kaapor-capuchin-monkey/). These monkeys along with all other monkeys are the closest living relatives to us.  Non-human primates are important to the health of their surrounding ecosystems, such as helping regulate plant life (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071026095223.htm).

The small monkeys known as Ka’apor capuchin monkeys are now critically endangered because humans have deforested their habitat and natural food source.  Along with deforestation we have hunted, sold illegally, and used them for entertainment.  In order to stop the endangerment of these monkeys and many others we need to stop deforestation and hunting for unproductive reasons. These monkeys along with other monkeys are our closest living relatives that help support their ecosystem along with our ecosystem.  We should be trying to prevent endangerment instead of push them towards it. 

Works Cited

http://www.animalinfo.org/species/primate/cebukaap.htm

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/40019/0

http://mungaiandthegoaconstrictor.me/2013/11/18/fast-fact-attack-endangered-species-no-79-the-kaapor-capuchin-monkey/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071026095223.htm