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topic: Monkeys
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Brazil takes pioneering action — and a vaccine — to rewild howler monkeys
- Brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba), endemic to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and Argentina, became one of the 25 most threatened primate species following a yellow fever outbreak in late 2016.
- In response, Brazilian government agencies and other conservation organizations launched a nationwide population management plan, the first of its kind in the country, focused on coordinating captive facilities with experts who could relocate animals to areas where populations have vanished or declined.
- Nationwide management of howler monkeys was made possible by the adaptation of a vaccine — originally developed for humans — against the yellow fever virus.
- Howler reintroduction initiatives in Brazil have already begun showing signs of success.
Cambodian official acquitted in trial that exposed monkey-laundering scheme
- A U.S. court has acquitted a senior Cambodian official accused of involvement in smuggling wild-caught and endangered monkeys into the U.S. for biomedical research.
- Kry Masphal was arrested in November 2022 and has been detained in the U.S. since then, but is now free to return to his job as director of the Cambodian Forestry Administration’s Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity.
- Evidence presented at his trial in Miami included a video of him appearing to acknowledge that long-tailed macaques collected by Cambodian exporter Vanny Bio Research were in fact being smuggled.
- The Cambodian government has welcomed news of the acquittal, while animal rights group PETA says that despite the ruling, “the evidence showed that countless monkeys were abducted from their forest homes and laundered with dirty paperwork.”
Ecuador project empowers cacao farmers to save spider monkey habitat
- The Washu Project helps farmers in northern Ecuador conserve forests and save forest-dwelling species by combining scientific research, environmental education, and strengthening communities.
- The flagship animal that the organization focuses on is the brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps fusciceps), one of the most threatened primates in Ecuador and the world.
- By empowering farmers to plant fine-aroma cacao, the project has helped to economically sustain farming families and ease the deforestation pressure on the spider monkeys’ habitat.
Male dominance isn’t the default in primate societies, new study shows
- A recent study challenges the notion that it’s a man’s world when it comes to primate social groups.
- The study found that while a majority of species (58%) exhibited male-biased power structures, female- or co-dominant structures were identified in every major primate group.
- The pattern held true for apes as well; all five gibbon species studied were classified as non-male-dominant, as were bonobos among the great apes.
- Experts say that long-held beliefs in male power as the default among primates could have developed due to chance (the earliest studied primate species happen to have male-dominant structures), or due to “who’s been doing the research and publishing.”
‘Shocking’ mortality of infant macaques points to dangers of oil palm plantations
- As oil palm plantations encroach on rainforests, wild primates increasingly enter them to forage, where they face the threat of being eaten by feral dogs, killed for raiding crops, or caught by traffickers for the pet trade.
- A new study from Peninsular Malaysia finds that exposure to oil plantations also significantly increases the risk of death among infant southern pig-tailed macaques.
- In addition to known threats, researchers speculate common pesticides used in oil palm plantations might play a role in the increased death risks for infant macaques, but their study stops short of providing direct evidence implicating any specific toxic chemical in these deaths.
- Conservationists call for using environmentally safe and wildlife-friendly agricultural practices in oil plantations to minimize risks and establishing wildlife corridors and tree islands so that endangered primates, like southern pig-tailed macaques, can move freely without being exposed to threats.
Skywalker gibbons confirmed in Myanmar for the first time
- Skywalker hoolock gibbons have been confirmed for the first time in the forests of northeastern Myanmar, with researchers using acoustic monitoring and DNA analysis to identify 44 groups of the imperiled primates.
- The discovery officially extends the range of the endangered species, first described as recently as 2017, beyond the borders of China; the population found in Myanmar is the largest known population of the species on the planet.
- The researchers also conducted a threat analysis, identifying habitat loss from logging and mining and hunting for the illegal wildlife trade as major pressures.
- Given the prevailing political conflict and paucity of well-managed protected areas in Myanmar, local communities and experts recommend scaling up grassroots and Indigenous-led conservation efforts to protect the threatened primates and their forest home.
Togo monkey seizure turns spotlight on illicit wildlife trafficking from DR Congo
- In December, Togo seized 38 monkeys in transit to Thailand.
- Nearly 30 of the animals in the shipment had not been declared in the official documentation.
- The monkeys, many of which were in poor health, were repatriated to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Only 24 monkeys from the group survived, and these have been taken in by a Lubumbashi animal refuge.
Brazil’s mammals help humanity, but those services are at risk, study says
- Most of Brazil’s 701 native mammal species provide critical ecosystem services that benefit people, according to a new study.
- However, more than half of the species providing ecosystem services are categorized as threatened and have likely lost their ability to provide these services in a meaningful way.
- Armadillos are among the most important service providers, transporting nutrients and engineering ecosystems through burrowing activities; however, they are heavily hunted.
- The study authors say that communicating conservation in terms of real-world human benefits rather than just wildlife preservation itself may increase support for conservation.
Are flame retardants about to burn a hole in biodiversity? (commentary)
- Researchers recently mapped more than 150 species of wild animals across every continent contaminated with flame retardant chemicals.
- These chemicals are added to furniture, electronics and vehicles but routinely escape such products and are found in the blood of wildlife species such as baboons, chimpanzees, and red colobus monkeys with unknown effects, but in humans these exposures are associated with lower IQs, reduced fertility, and an elevated risk of cancer.
- “Even though we lack data on flame retardants in wildlife from most tropical areas with high levels of biodiversity, the findings from Uganda strongly suggest that wildlife in other tropical ecosystems are probably affected as well,” a new op-ed states in arguing for a rapid reduction in their use.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Myanmar’s primates and their guardians need more support, study says
- Myanmar is home to 20 species of primates, making it the seventh most primate-rich country in Asia. However, a new study shows that all species are suffering population declines, with 90% of them threatened with extinction.
- The conflict-torn country’s researchers and conservationists are working in challenging conditions and are in dire need of more support from the international community, the study says.
- Despite the bleak outlook, experts say the wealth of in-country expertise, young primatologists and local communities engaged in conservation action for primates in Myanmar is cause for hope.
- The study authors encourage conservation funders to not view Myanmar as a “no-go” zone due to the political situation, and propose recommendations to strengthen the field of primatology within the country.
Habitat loss drove long-tailed macaques extinct in Bangladesh, experts say
- Clearing of mangrove forests along the Naf River in southern Bangladesh was the main driver for the extinction of the long-tailed macaque in Bangladesh, according to longtime experts on the species.
- From an estimated 253 of the monkeys in 1981, the population plunged to just five individuals in 2010, then three in 2012, before it was declared extinct in the country in 2022.
- Experts attribute this trend to the clearing of mangroves for shrimp farms, farmland, refugee camps, and settlements.
- Though one of the most widely distributed monkey species in the world, the long-tailed macaque faces severe threats throughout its range, and since 2020 has seen its conservations status progressively worsen from least concern to vulnerable to endangered.
Study: Wild meat trade from Africa into Belgium a health and conservation risk
- Up to 4 metric tons of wild meat is illegally entering Europe through Brussels’ international airport alone every month, a new study says.
- The source for much of this meat is West and Central Africa, with some of the seized meat found to be from threatened or protected species such as tree pangolins and dwarf crocodiles.
- The study comes more than a decade after the same group of researchers found an estimated 5 metric tons of bushmeat entering via Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris weekly, suggesting enforcement since then hasn’t been effective.
- Experts are calling for better detection of wild meat trafficking and stricter enforcement of penalties against the trade in protected species, as well as more frequent checks of the legal trade to uncover illegal shipments.
Oil palms may be magnet for macaques, boars, at expense of other biodiversity
- A new study documents the “hyperabundance” of two generalist mammals around oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, highlighting the indirect ecological impacts of oil palm expansion across the region.
- The research team found local numbers of wild pigs and macaques “exploded” in proximity to oil palm plantations, where they believe the animals derive enormous fitness benefits by consuming high-calorie palm fruit.
- Scientists caution that while these species can aggregate in some areas, their overall numbers are in decline due to a wide range of threats, including habitat loss, environmental degradation, disease outbreak, and poaching for the pet trade and biomedical research.
- The researchers call for the establishment of buffer zones around oil palm plantations and avoiding encroachment into intact forest as a way to address any problems arising from negative human-wildlife interactions and ecological impacts.
Poverty-fueled deforestation of Nigerian reserve slashes hope for rare chimps
- Less than 20 year ago, Akure-Ofosu Forest Reserve was regarded as a potential conservation site for endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees.
- But between 2001 and 2022, the reserve lost nearly half of its old growth forest cover, a trend that shows no sign of stopping.
- Akure-Ofosu’s forest is being lost due to the proliferation small-scale farms within the reserve.
- Facing an unemployment rate surpassing 50% and a soaring level of poverty, many Nigerians have few options other than to settle in the country’s protected areas and hew farms from forest.
The biologist working to save Peru’s yellow-tailed monkey: Q&A with Fanny Cornejo
- Peruvian biologist and anthropologist Fanny Cornejo has won the Emerging Conservationist Award from the Indianapolis Prize, the most prestigious wildlife conservation award in the world.
- She was chosen for her more than 15 years of work in conservation and research on the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), a primate endemic to Peru that is in critical danger of extinction.
- In an interview with Mongabay Latam, the scientist says her dream is “to ensure that this species does not become extinct and that its forests are maintained.”
Meet the kipunji: A rare primate success story in Tanzania
- A recent census shows that the population of the kipunji monkey (Rungwecebus kipunji) in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands has increased by 65%, while signs of human impacts in its habitat decreased by 81%, over a 13-year period.
- The increase follows 20 years of intensive holistic conservation efforts by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Tanzanian government partners, including greater legal protection for forests and community engagement.
- The total population size of the kipunji is estimated at 1,966 individuals in two subpopulations, and the species is classified by the IUCN as endangered.
- The kipunji has been on the Primates in Peril list of 25 most endangered primates three times: in 2006-2008, 2008-2010, and 2018-2020, but was not on the most recent list.
Effort to save rare Colombian monkey looks to crowdfund its conservation
- The nonprofit Fundación Proyecto Tití has conserved some 5,100 hectares (12,600 acres) of forest in Colombia, helping to reconnect forest fragments and secure more habitat for the critically endangered cotton-top tamarin.
- To combat deforestation and fragmentation, the project aims to buy an additional 386 hectares (954 acres) with the help of ReWorld, a fully volunteer-run organization that has committed to raising $1.2 million for Proyecto Tití.
- Researchers say restoration initiatives can help with the conservation and management of ecosystems by controlling fragmentation and the expansion of deforestation.
Sumatra’s young primate whisperer brings bullhorn to macaque conservation
- Abdulrahman Manik, also known as Detim, has spent years saving monkeys from marginal lives on the sides of roads, where they forage for food and risk being struck by passing vehicles.
- Manik’s father had originally planned to poison the monkeys on his farm, until he had a dream that told him to take a different approach.
- Throughout Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, many see the long-tailed macaque as a pest, but in 2022 the species’ conservation status worsened from vulnerable to endangered.
Survival and economics complicate the DRC’s bushmeat and wild animal trade
- Hunting for bushmeat can impact the populations of rare and threatened wildlife in forests around the world.
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, subsistence hunting is often intertwined with the trade of bushmeat and in some cases live animals to sate the demand from larger markets, which can increase the pressure on wildlife populations.
- The trade of bushmeat provides one of the few sources of income for hunters, porters and traders, as well as a source of protein for families, in the town of Lodja, which sits close to forests that are home to unique species.
- Activists in Lodja and the DRC are working to save live animals from entering the illicit trade of endangered species and encourage alternative sources of income to the commercial trade of wild meat and animals.
After Sri Lanka, Nepal debates exporting its ‘problematic’ monkeys
- Some officials in Nepal are calling for mimicking a plan by Sri Lanka — now suspended — to export large numbers of rhesus macaques.
- The monkeys are seen as pests by farmers whose crops they eat, and exporting them would address this problem while also generating foreign revenue, proponents say.
- However, a previous attempt to export a small number of macaques was scrapped on the grounds that it violated Nepali laws and international wildlife trade regulations.
- Conservationists also say that exporting the monkeys won’t address the root causes of human-macaque conflicts, including a government forestry program that’s seen the animals’ preferred fruit trees replaced with non-native species.
Proposal to export 100,000 crop-raiding macaques sparks outcry in Sri Lanka
- Following the Sri Lanka Agriculture Ministry’s confirmation of a request from a Chinese company to import 100,000 toque macaques for their zoos, environmentalists have mounted protests over fears that monkeys may be used for medical experiments or as a food delicacy.
- The toque macaque (Macaca sinica) is a primate endemic to Sri Lanka but is also an agricultural pest that often causes considerable damage to crops such as coconuts, vegetables and fruits; the ministry is considering possible solutions, including population control.
- Meanwhile, a recent study indicates the presence of toque macaques on 80% of the tropical island, but experts say the government’s claim of a monkey population of 3 million is an exaggeration.
- On the contrary, some farmers and villagers in monkey-infested areas have responded positively, saying the removal of 100,000 toque macaques from the environment can be the beginning of a solution.
Nepal’s community forest program misses the biodiversity for the trees
- Nepal increased its forest cover from 26% to 45% in two-and-a-half-decades, but the success has translated into a limited win for biodiversity conservation, experts say.
- The reforestation gains came largely from the country’s community forestry program, which encourages communities to grow, manage and harvest their own forest resources.
- As such, the program’s focus has been an economic one, with many of the newly forested areas consisting of pine monocultures that are ideal for providing wood but make for poor wildlife habitat.
- Experts say there needs to be a greater emphasis on wildlife management in the community forestry program to address growing issues such as human-wildlife conflict and the spread of “green deserts” devoid of biodiversity.
Swinging to safety: How canopy bridges may save Costa Rica’s howlers
- New research shows that building rope bridges over roads and buildings protects howler monkeys from needless deaths in Costa Rica.
- Breaks in the tree canopy from roads, buildings and other developments pose a threat to howlers, which are often struck by moving vehicles or electrocuted on power lines while trying to cross these gaps.
- Researchers built simple rope bridges over interrupted canopy and monitored them over the course of six years, finding that the bridges have led to a decrease in howler deaths and a rebound in their population.
- Howlers monkeys are vital ecosystem engineers due to their seed dispersal and their ability to live in fragmented, disturbed habitats, so protecting them goes a long way toward protecting the ecosystem.
Some tree-dwelling primates may adapt more easily to life on the ground, massive study shows
- As deforestation and climate change alter rainforest habitats, monkeys and lemurs that normally live in trees are risking encounters with predators to spend time on the ground.
- Species with diverse diets, smaller body masses, and larger group sizes may adjust to terrestrial life more successfully than others.
- The huge international study drew from more than 150,000 hours of observations of 47 species in Madagascar and Central and South America.
Alleged macaque-smuggling ring exposed as U.S. indicts Cambodian officials
- U.S. federal prosecutors have charged eight people, including two Cambodian forestry officials, for their alleged involvement in an international ring smuggling endangered long-tailed macaques.
- The indictment alleges forestry officials colluded with Hong Kong-based biomedical firm Vanny Bio Research to procure macaques from the wild and create export permits falsely listing them as captive-bred animals.
- One of the officials charged was arrested in New York City on Nov. 16, en route to Panama for an international summit focused on regulating the global trade in wildlife.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.
To save threatened Amazon primates in Brazil, turn them into the main attraction
- Primates along the southern portion of Brazil’s Amazon frontier, a region known as the Arc of Deforestation, are being pushed to the brink of extinction as vast swaths of their habitats are cleared.
- A recent assessment places the Vieira’s titi monkey, whose conservation status was previously unknown, now as critically endangered; researchers say other primates face a similarly perilous situation.
- Conservationists say investing in primate-based ecotourism, based on the established model of the bird-watching industry and making use of the existing agroindustry infrastructure, could provide an effective conservation solution.
- Some point to the city of Sinop, in the state of Mato Grosso, as a potential “hotspot” for primate-watching ecotourism.
New oil refinery ‘a huge disaster’ for Nigerian forest reserve
- Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve comprises nearly 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) in southern Nigeria, and is home to threatened wildlife and economically valuable tree species.
- Despite its official protected status as a forest reserve, much of Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve’s tree cover has been lost due to human activities like logging and farming.
- Area residents say the construction of this new refinery has exacerbated deforestation in Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, and a government official calls the development of the reserve “a huge disaster for the forest.”
- Residents are also concerned that the refinery will exacerbate conflicts between Local Government Areas.
Endangered species listing of long-tailed macaques: ‘shocking, painful, predictable’ (commentary)
- “Conservationists such as myself are in shock as it reflects the utter failure of the state of things if even the most opportunistic and adaptable generalist primates such as long-tailed macaques are now being classified as endangered,” writes the author of a new op-ed.
- During its latest assessment in March 2022, the IUCN declared the species as endangered due to the rapid population decline and the prognosis of decline if current trends of exploitation and habitat destruction continue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Hundreds of iconic Barbary macaques feared dead in Morocco forest fire
- A wildfire has burned through half of the Bouhachem Forest Reserve in northern Morocco, one of the few remaining refuges of the Barbary macaque.
- The fire forced the evacuation of more than 900 families from 15 villages in this region of the Rif mountains, destroying homes and crops and killing livestock.
- In recent months, exceptionally hot, dry conditions have prevailed in Morocco and around the Mediterranean and Western Europe, with observers saying climate change is exacerbating the conditions that produce forest fires in the region.
- The largest trees in the Bouhachem reserve have largely survived, but the burning of the forest understory will have a massive impact on the availability of grazing for villagers’ livestock, as well as food for macaques and other species.
How Brazil is working to save the rare lion tamarins of the Atlantic Forest
- Small, lively and threatened, the golden lion tamarin is a primate species found only in the Atlantic Forest and which today is struggling for space and connectivity inside Brazil’s most deforested and fragmented biome.
- There are four species of lion tamarin (Leontopithecus spp.) in Brazil, but the golden lion tamarin (L. rosalia) was the first to be described and has enjoyed the most fame.
- Golden lion tamarin conservation efforts have been successful, growing the population from a one-time low of 200 animals to more than 2,000 today.
- The other three species — the black lion tamarin, golden-headed lion tamarin, and black-faced lion tamarin — live isolated in fragmented patches of the Atlantic Forest and face a growing risk of extinction.
Ecotours aimed at saving monkeys are likely stressing them out, study finds
- A recent study reveals that tourist boats approaching troops of proboscis monkeys in Malaysian Borneo cause the animals stress, even when the boats travel at slow speeds.
- The research reveals something of a universal response, closely tracking similar findings from ecotourism operations focused on other animals such as birds and whales.
- Wildlife tourism is increasingly seen as a way to raise awareness around conservation issues and provide local communities with a source of income that’s contingent on the protection of ecosystems.
- Scientists say this type of research can form the basis for guidelines aimed at minimizing the effects of ecotourism on animals, especially as its role in conservation grows.
Monkeys, porcupines team up to destroy crops, Nepal’s farmers say
- Farmers in Nepal’s middle hills say monkeys are raiding their crops during the day, followed by porcupines at night.
- Nepal has paradoxically seen an increase in reported cases of human-wildlife conflict as its forest cover has grown dramatically.
- A key reason may be because the trees being planted under the community forestry program are non-native species that don’t provide the fruits that monkeys and porcupines typically eat.
- However, there’s debate on just how common crop raiding is, with researchers saying there needs to be more studies and fewer anecdotes to identify the scale of the problem.
Making room in the Atlantic Forest for the largest primate in the Americas
- The destruction of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has created countless isolated forest patches surrounded by pastures, cities or monoculture plantations, with serious consequences for northern muriquis, the largest primate in the Americas.
- Considered critically threatened, northern muriquis depend on connectivity between different groups to survive; when females reach sexual maturity, they migrate to other groups, ensuring the species’ genetic diversity.
- In Minas Gerais state, a pioneering project by the Muriqui Institute of Biodiversity and Comuna do Ibitipoca is working to rescue isolated muriquis, release them into a restored forest area, and create forest corridors to allow them to move around.
- Conservationists say private landowners, such as Comuna do Ibitipoca, will be key to creating these corridors, given that 80% of the remaining patches of Atlantic Forest lie within private lands.
Deforestation on the rise as poverty soars in Nigeria
- Akure-Ofosu Forest Reserve was established to help protect what is now one of largest remaining tracts of rainforest in Nigeria, and is home to many species.
- But fire and logging is rampant in the reserve, with satellite data showing it lost 44% of its primary forest cover in just two decades; preliminary data indicate deforestation may be increasing further in 2022.
- Sources say poverty is the driving force behind the deforestation of Akure-Ofosu and other protected areas in Nigeria.
- According to the World Bank, 4 in 10 Nigerians – about 80 million people – were living below in poverty in 2019, with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing another 5 million people below the poverty line by 2022.
Marauding monkeys on an Indonesian island point to environmental pressures
- Beachgoers and residents on the Indonesian island of Batam have complained about packs of monkeys terrorizing them in search of food.
- Conservationists say the problem is that the long-tailed macaques are being squeezed out of their natural habitat by deforestation, and have become accustomed to being given food by humans.
- Visitors to Batam’s Mirota Beach often flout the “no feeding” signs, which encourages the monkeys; food waste in trash cans outside homes also draws the animals into residential areas.
- Human-primate conflicts area common in other parts of Indonesia, including in Bali’s Monkey Forest, at the foot of Java’s Mount Semeru after a recent eruption, and in Sumatra and Borneo, where orangutans are losing their forest homes.
Greater Mekong primates struggle to cling on amid persistent threats: Report
- The Greater Mekong region is home to 44 species of non-human primates, including gibbons, lorises, langurs, macaques and snub-nosed monkeys, several of which were first described within the last few years.
- Habitat loss and hunting driven by the wildlife trade and consumption have driven many of the region’s primates to the brink of extinction, with many species now only existing as tiny populations in isolated, fragmented pockets of habitat.
- Experts say controlling the illegal wildlife trade is complicated by the presence of legal markets for primates, often for use in biomedical research.
- Despite the challenges, conservation action at local levels is achieving results for some primate species in the region while also enhancing livelihoods and ecosystem services for local communities.
Light-fingered monkeys threaten critically endangered Príncipe thrush
- Camera traps have confirmed suspicions that mona monkeys are eating the eggs of the critically- endangered Príncipe thrush.
- The monkeys and several other invasive species were brought to the then-uninhabited islands of Príncipe and São Tomé by Portuguese sailors beginning in the 15th century.
- Conservation authorities are considering allowing hunting of the monkeys in Príncipe Natural Park to reduce their numbers, but further research to understand their place in the ecology is needed.
Extinction not only threatens primates—their parasites are in danger, too
- Primates threatened with extinction have highly specific parasites that will likely vanish if their hosts go extinct.
- Parasites play essential roles in ecosystems, but most are so understudied that scientists don’t understand the consequences of losing them.
- If in peril due to a diminishing number of hosts, parasites may try to jump to new host species—potentially triggering unforeseen infections.
Meet Magali, the conservation warrior rescuing Peru’s rainforest animals: Video
- A new, award-winning short film by Nick Werber follows wildlife rehabilitator and founder of Amazon Shelter, Magali Salinas, as she discusses her work in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon.
- Magali has dedicated the past 16 years of her life to rescuing animals in a region rife with illegal logging, mining, and wildlife trade. Her center cares for up to 80 animals at once (including sloths, tortoises, parrots, monkeys and more) and releases dozens back into the wild each year.
- Amazon shelter specializes in howler monkeys and Magali releases troops of rehabilitated howlers into protected reserves away from other howler troops’ territories. Finding these places can take days to weeks of searching.
- The film builds to the release of 14 howler monkeys into the wild. “It just goes to show the difference that one person can make,” Werber said. “That was what inspired me to make the film.”
Southern patas monkeys face extinction in a decade without intervention
- New research into the little-known southern patas monkey indicates that fewer than 200 of these primates remain, all confined to protected areas in northern Tanzania.
- Without intervention, researchers say, the species could die out within a decade, as it faces mounting pressure from habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting and competition for food and water.
- Despite the grim situation, experts say quick, well-targeted conservation actions can still save the species.
Meet the kitten-sized, clown-faced monkey that’s leaping toward extinction
- The buffy-headed marmoset is down to no more than 2,500 individuals scattered across dwindling patches of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
- It faces a range of threats, from yellow fever to climate change, but the biggest one is hybridization with other marmoset species released into its habitat from the pet trade.
- Conservationists working to save the species warn that populations are declining rapidly, with little funding for studies or captive-breeding programs, and a lack of political will under the current government to act urgently.
- One possible conservation solution is to establish “safe haven” forests for unmixed buffy-headed marmosets that will exclude hybrid animals, but this will difficult and costly, experts say.
Not all rescued animals should be released back to the wild (commentary)
- Articles about animals released from captivity (or rehabilitation after injury) get clicks, likes and lots of shares, and it would be easy to assume that doing this is the top job for all wildlife sanctuaries.
- As appealing as this image is, sanctuaries must first determine what is in the best interest of the animal, like whether it can survive where it’s being released.
- How do they determine which animals should be returned to the wild, and which should remain at the sanctuary? It’s complicated, but sometimes the best move is to keep an animal in captivity.
- This article is a commentary, and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
How settlers, scientists, and a women-led industry saved Brazil’s rarest primate
- A conservation project to improve forest connectivity for critically endangered black lion tamarin monkeys in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has been hailed as a rare landscape restoration success story.
- The Institute for Ecological Research (IPÊ) prioritized the needs of rural communities (those who moved to the area as part of Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement as well as local farmers) engaging with them to reforest parts of their farms to create a network of forest corridors.
- The initiative has planted more than 2.7 million seedlings covering 6,000 hectares (14,000 acres) in three decades, fueling a thriving business for tree seedlings — managed largely by women and providing extra income and jobs for the community.
- The result has been an upgrading of the black lion tamarin’s conservation status to endangered, and acknowledgment that projects are more likely to succeed when the input and needs of local communities are centered.
Female putty-nosed monkeys get their males to run defense against predators
- A new study found that female putty-nosed monkeys use alarm calls to recruit males to be their “hired guns” when a predator is detected, only stopping their vocalizations once males have been enlisted to ward off the threat.
- Recruited males will vocalize their participation with a “pyow” call, which may aid their reproductive chances in the future, according to the study.
- The researchers also observed that male putty-nosed monkeys emitted a newly described “kek” call when responding to a simulation of a leopard moving along the forest floor.
- The researchers say that this study, as well as related studies, can aid conservation efforts for the putty-nosed monkey, a near-threatened species, and broaden our understanding of communicative and cognitive capacities of non-human primate species.
Thriving population of endangered monkeys gives hope to conservationists
- Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri) is a critically endangered primate species endemic to Vietnam, with only 234-275 estimated remaining today.
- In response to habitat loss and poaching, local communities teamed up with a German primatologist to form Van Long Nature Reserve.
- Van Long has effectively protected its langur population, which has quadrupled in size since the reserve was established in 2001. With currently around 200 individuals, the reserve houses the bulk of the world’s remaining Delacour’s langurs.
- Conservationists hope that more langur habitat will be protected to safeguard other populations from poaching as well as deforestation from agriculture and limestone quarrying for cement production.
What is a white-faced capuchin? Candid Animal Cam meets monkeys
- Every Tuesday, Mongabay brings you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.
Crimefighting NGO tracks Brazil wildlife trade on WhatsApp and Facebook
- A nonprofit, the National Network Combating Wild Animal Trafficking (RENCTAS) was founded in 1999, and since then has won international awards and acclaim for its innovative approach to tracking and combating the global illegal wildlife trade, especially the sourcing of animals in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna biomes.
- The group’s pioneering strategy: use social media to track the sale and movement of animals out of Brazil, and turn over the data to law enforcement. In 1999, it identified nearly 6,000 ads featuring the illegal sale of animals on e-commerce platforms. By 2019, it reported 3.5 million advertisements for the illegal trade on social networks.
- The most trafficked Brazilian animals currently: the double-collared seedeater (Sporophila caerulescens); a small, finch-like songbird with a yellow bill that thrives in the southern Cerrado, and the white-cheeked spider monkey (Ateles marginatus), found across the Amazon basin. Sales of animals have been tracked to 200+ illegal trafficking organizations.
- Tragically, of the millions of Brazilian animals captured, sold, resold, and transported, only an estimated 1 in 10 ever reach Brazilian and foreign consumers alive. The rest, ripped from their homes, starved and abused, die in transit.
Discovery of threatened species drives bid to protect Vietnam forest
- The impoverished district faces the same threats as many of Vietnam’s natural areas, including poaching, deforestation and urban development.
- FFI and GreenViet, the conservation NGOs that carried out the survey, are working to convince government officials to establish a nature reserve or national park in Kon Plong.
- More than 120 species of mammals and birds were recorded in Kon Plong, including the critically endangered gray-shanked douc langur, a monkey endemic to Vietnam, as well as the northern yellow-cheeked gibbon, Owston’s palm civet, pygmy slow loris — all endangered species — plus Asiatic black bear, otters, and forest cats.
Rescuing Achilles: Southern pig-tailed macaques listed as endangered but still persecuted (commentary)
- It is alarming if a highly adaptive generalist species such as the pig-tailed macaque–which can thrive even in oil palm landscapes–is now threatened with extinction, the author argues.
- Not long after rescuing an infant macaque from a life on a chain, the author discovered that this once common species has been listed as endangered.
- “Conservation has to include all wildlife regardless of their status. As we can see from the pig-tailed macaque, the common species of today can easily become the endangered species of tomorrow,” he says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
The woman building the forest corridors saving Brazil’s black lion tamarin
- The Black Lion Tamarin Conservation program created a series of forest corridors to connect areas with isolated populations of this once critically endangered primate, bringing back to life pars of the Atlantic Forest in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of inland São Paulo state in Brazil.
- Gabriela Rezende, the biologist currently leading the program, was one of the winners of the prestigious Whitley Award for environmental conservation in 2020. The $50,000 prize will fund the continuing efforts to protect the black lion tamarin.
- The plan is to open more corridors and manage the population, moving the animals to accelerate their occupation of the forest and expand the population.
- The project also involves environmental education, professional training and the generation of income for the local population.
Treetop cameras capture first known video of a wild roloway monkey
- Treetop cameras in Côte d’Ivoire’s Tanoé-Ehy forest recently captured the first known video of a wild roloway monkey, a critically endangered species that spends most of its time high up in trees.
- There are only about 300 roloway monkeys left in the wild, and 36 individuals living in captivity, so conservation efforts are paramount to preserve the species, according to experts.
- Conservationists are also hoping to capture video of the critically endangered Miss Waldron’s red colobus monkey, which hasn’t been spotted in 42 years.
As habitat degradation threatens Amazon species, one region offers hope
- Two recent studies looked into the impact of human disturbance on ecological diversity in Amazonia habitats. Another study in the Rupununi region of Guyana found how important maintaining connectivity is to maintaining ecosystem health.
- The first study investigated how forest fragmentation impacts mixed-species flocks of birds. The research found evidence that forest habitat fragmentation in the Amazon has caused mixed-species bird flocks to severely diminish and even disappear.
- A second study evaluated the impact of logging and fire on seed dispersal in tropical forest plots in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The research team found that Amazon forests which have been heavily logged and burned are populated primarily by tree species with smaller seeds, and smaller fruits.
- The remote Rupununi region provides water connectivity between the ancient Guyana Shield and the Amazon basin. A recent study there identified more than 450 fish species within the Rupununi region. The research illustrated the value of conserving connectivity between diverse habitats.
Takeover of Nigerian reserve highlights uphill battle to save forests
- Akure-Ofosu Forest Reserve in southwestern Nigeria, home to rare primates and valuable timber trees, has some of the highest deforestation rates in the country.
- Logging is ostensibly prohibited, but sawmills thrive here, while farmers who clear land inside the reserve often have their actions legitimized by the authorities.
- Researchers say poverty and a lack of jobs are at the root of the problem, with communities compelled to farm, log and hunt in the absence of other forms of livelihoods.
- With Nigeria’s forest reserves among the few areas left unfarmed, population pressure threatens to drive an influx of newcomers from all around the country into these reserve areas in the competition for arable land.
Rapid deforestation of Brazilian Amazon could bring next pandemic: Experts
- Nearly 25,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Brazil, with 1,378 deaths as of April 15, though some experts say this is an underestimate. Those figures continue growing, even as President Jair Bolsonaro downplays the crisis, calling it “no worse than a mild flu,” and places the economy above public health.
- Scientists warn that the next emergent pandemic could originate in the Brazilian Amazon if Bolsonaro’s policies continue to drive Amazon deforestation rates ever higher. Researchers have long known that new diseases typically arise at the nexus between forest and agribusiness, mining, and other human development.
- One way deforestation leads to new disease emergence is through fire, like the Amazon blazes seen in 2019. In the aftermath of wildfires, altered habitat often offers less food, changing animal behavior, bringing foraging wildlife into contact with neighboring human communities, creating vectors for zoonotic bacteria, viruses and parasites.
- Now, Bolsonaro is pushing to open indigenous lands and conservation units to mining and agribusiness — policies which greatly benefit land grabbers. Escalating deforestation, worsened by climate change, growing drought and fire, heighten the risk of the emergence of new diseases, along with epidemics of existing ones, such as malaria.
Inside the fight to save the Niger Delta red colobus
- The Niger Delta red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni) is a critically endangered monkey that numbers as few as 500 in the wild, confined to a small patch of marshy forest in Nigeria’s Bayelsa state.
- Conservationists hoping to protect the species’ habitat by establishing it as a national park have been thwarted by the dire security situation in the region, which is home to armed militant groups.
- So they’ve turned to community-based conservation, engaging local residents in efforts to safeguard the forest and take on loggers and bushmeat hunters.
The next great threat to Brazil’s golden lion tamarin: Yellow fever
- Once critically endangered due to extremely high levels of poaching, the golden lion tamarin — a primate endemic to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest — was down to just a few hundred by the 1980s, holding out in forest fragments 80 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro city. Intensive conservation efforts restored that number to 3,700 by 2014.
- But now, yellow fever, transferred from people via mosquitoes, is putting the tamarin’s recovery at risk. In May 2018, the first tamarin death due to yellow fever was recorded in the wild following an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease across Brazil. An astonishing 32% of the population has disappeared in the year since.
- Dr. Carlos Ruiz, President of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association, told Mongabay that the disease could set back conservation efforts thirty years. However, another Brazilian researcher is pioneering a possible yellow fever vaccine for the primate. The approval application is currently being considered by the Brazilian government.
- While trafficking continues, that risk has been much reduced. Experts today believe that a combination of climate change and deforestation (drastically reducing tamarin habitat) is largely driving the devastating yellow fever epidemic.
Let’s take the fight to social media giants and protect endangered monkeys and apes (commentary)
- Every year, thousands of apes and monkeys are cruelly bought and sold as part of the illegal wildlife trade. The illegal sale of wild animals must end.
- In 2015, the value of the primate trade was estimated at $138M, up from $98M just three years before. These animals are sold as pets, sold to zoos, or slaughtered and sold in markets as bushmeat. This at a time when African primate populations are shockingly decimated, putting entire species at risk of extinction.
- It’s difficult to track illegal activity and bring perpetrators to justice because wildlife dealers exploit the anonymity of social media platforms to conduct their business. Silicon Valley giants are quick to point out that they have policies in place that prohibit the sale of wildlife, and we commend them for that. However, these policies are no match for savvy traders who exploit the features of platforms to make money selling endangered wildlife.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Urban wildlife: Managing Cape Town’s baboons
- Baboons on South Africa’s Cape Peninsula are attracted to residential areas by the ready availability of food waste and fruit trees.
- The extirpation of the primates’ natural predators and steady growth of human settlements has led to escalating conflict.
- Culling was abandoned as a management method as it was pushing the baboon population toward local extinction.
- Alternative approaches have been complicated by debates over humane methods of deterrence as well as poor enforcement of regulations to make urban areas less attractive to baboons.
Deforestation clips howler monkey calls, study finds
- In a recent study, scientists report that howler monkeys in Costa Rica make longer calls in forest interiors and near naturally occurring forest edges, such as those along rivers, than near human-created edges.
- The researchers believe that the longer howls serve as a way for male monkeys to protect their groups’ access to higher-quality food resources.
- The team’s findings indicate that this behavioral change in response to deforestation supports the protection of standing forest and reforestation along human-created forest edges.
Palm oil processors top plantations in destroying proboscis monkey habitat
- The oil palm processing industry has overtaken palm plantations as the biggest cause of the loss of habitat for the endangered proboscis monkey in Indonesia’s Balikpapan Bay.
- A new study pinpoints the shift to 2007, when suitable land for palm oil plantations ran out and there was a boom in building the industry and infrastructure to process and ship out the commodity.
- Plantations continue to be a key factor in the loss of habitat, with RSPO-certified companies clearing proboscis monkey habitat despite such activity being prohibited under the terms of the sustainability scheme.
- The area continues to face further threats with plans for greater industrial expansion and the development of a new capital city nearby.
Action plan for red colobus
- Across Africa, red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus spp.) are threatened by hunting and loss of forest habitat.
- The presence of red colobus monkeys, whose range overlaps with that of three-quarters of other African primates, is a strong indicator of healthy forests.
- The Red Colobus Action Plan aims to strengthen conservation by building capacity, coordinating research, and raising the profile of these leaf-eating monkeys.
New monkey discovered on “island” amid deforestation in Brazil
- DNA analysis has revealed a “new” species in the transition forest between the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado woodland in Brazil.
- Writing in Primate Conservation, a team of scientists analyzed the traits of a group of titi monkeys rediscovered in 2011 in the Chapada dos Parecis.
- They determined that the monkeys are sufficiently distinct from the closely related ashy black titi to be classified as a separate species.
- They dubbed the primate Plecturocebus parecis after the name of the plateau.
Vervet monkeys thrive despite habitat loss in South Africa
- Vervet monkeys, native to Africa, have rapidly adapted to urban areas seeking food in peoples’ gardens and trash.
- Researchers in South Africa found that despite an abundance of food for vervets in such spaces, populations aren’t booming.
- By understanding vervet populations and behavior, researchers hope to minimize human-animal conflict in cities.
Amazon primates face barriers in responding to climate change
- Climate change will make the current ranges of most Amazon primates uninhabitable in the coming decades, forcing them to move.
- But primates face barriers to dispersal, such as rivers and deforestation, which can limit their ability to migrate.
- If species aren’t able to find new habitats, the populations, as well as the habitat they support, will suffer.
Eight species, including Tapanuli orangutan, make first appearance on list of most endangered primates
- “Primates In Peril: The world’s 25 most endangered primates 2018-2020” is the tenth iteration of a report issued every two years documenting the primate species from across the globe that are facing the most severe threats of extinction.
- The report finds that the Tapanuli orangutan is one of the world’s most imperiled primates largely due to the impacts of human activities, and that it is hardly alone in that respect: Nearly 70 percent of the 704 known primate species and subspecies in the world are considered threatened; more than 40 percent are listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered.
- Many species are, like the Tapanuli orangutan, down to just a few hundred individuals or less. The Skywalker hoolock gibbon, for instance, was only elevated to full species status by scientists in 2017 and makes it first appearance on the list of the 25 most endangered primates this year because there are less than 150 left in the wild.
New monkey species found in Amazon forest area that’s fast disappearing
- From a stretch of the Amazon forest lying between the Tapajós and Jamanxim rivers in the Brazilian state of Pará, researchers have described a new-to-science species of marmoset.
- The marmoset, with its distinct white tail, white forearms with a beige-yellowish spot on the elbow, and white feet and hands, has been named Mico munduruku after the Munduruku, an indigenous group of people who live in the Tapajós–Jamanxim interfluve.
- At the moment, given the scarcity of information on M. munduruku, the researchers recommend listing the marmoset as data deficient on the IUCN Red List.
- However, the Amazon forest that’s home to the newly described species is being rapidly cut for agricultural expansion, logging, mining, and infrastructure development.
The Pan Borneo Highway could divide threatened wildlife populations
- Crews are set to begin construction on a stretch of Malaysia’s Pan Borneo Highway in eastern Sabah state, involving the widening of the road from two lanes to four.
- The new divided highway will cross the Kinabatangan River and pass through a critical wildlife sanctuary that’s home to orangutans, elephants and proboscis monkeys, along with other wildlife species already hemmed in by the region’s oil palm plantations.
- Planners and politicians hope the road will stimulate local economies and bring in more tourists.
- Conservationists and scientists, however, are concerned that the highway could further section off animal populations and damage the current tourism infrastructure, unless certain mitigation measures are introduced.
The Pan Borneo Highway brings wildlife threats to nat’l park doorstep
- The southern terminus of the Pan Borneo Highway in Malaysia extends to the edge of Tanjung Datu National Park in Sarawak.
- The highway’s proponents say the road is already bringing more tourists who are eager to see the park’s wildlife to the adjacent communities, helping to boost the local economy.
- But one of the world’s rarest primates, the Bornean banded langur, resides in the park, raising concerns in the conservation community that increased access could bring poachers into the park.
‘Extremely rare’ fossil tooth of hamster-sized monkey found in Peru
- From the riverbed of the Río Alto Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru, researchers have found an extremely small tooth that belonged to a species of tiny monkey that lived some 18 million years ago.
- Researchers have named the new species of extinct monkey Parvimico materdei, with parvimico meaning tiny monkey and the species name referring to the river where the fossil tooth was found.
- From the tooth, the researchers have deduced that the monkey was exceptionally small, in the size range of marmosets and tamarins, and likely ate a mix of insects and fruits.
- Given how the monkey fossil record for the period between 13 million and 31 million years ago from South America is extremely scarce, creating a gap in the understanding of the evolution of New World monkeys, the discovery of P. materdei is incredibly exciting, researchers say.
Secretive and colorful dryas monkey isn’t as rare as once thought
- In 2014, biologists discovered a population of critically endangered dryas monkeys (Cercopithecus dryas) living 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of their only known range in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Multi-level camera traps revealed that these stealthy monkeys are more common — and a lot weirder — than previously thought. They digest young leaves, snuggle up in impenetrable vine thickets, and sometimes boast an outrageous blue behind.
- In 2019, the IUCN downgraded their conservation status to endangered, and scientists are predicting a potentially positive future for the dryas.
New protected area in Bolivia is nearly as large as Yellowstone in the US
- A new protected area in northwest Bolivia will promote wildlife conservation and sustainable development in local communities, its creators say.
- The municipal government of Reyes, in northwest Bolivia, approved the Municipal Park and Natural Area of Integral Management Rhukanrhuka on June 25. The protected area encompasses some 859,451 hectares or more than 2.1 million acres, making it nearly as large as Yellowstone National Park in the United States, widely regarded to be the first national park ever created.
- According to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Rainforest Trust, which worked with the Reyes government and local communities to establish Rhukanrhuka, the municipal protected area will benefit the local economy as well as titi monkeys, river dolphins, wattled curassows and other wildlife.
On one island, a microcosm of Vietnam’s environmental challenges
- It is also a popular tourist destination, and like many parts of the country faces the challenge of balancing development with environmental protection.
- Tenuous conservation success stories can be found here, but current and future developments in surrounding areas pose acute threats.
In a predator-infested forest, survival for baby birds comes by the road
- Fledglings of a common bird, the white-rumped shama, in a tropical forest in Thailand were more likely to survive if they came from nests near a roadway than if they fledged deeper in the forest, researchers have found.
- The scientists believe that predators’ preference for the forest’s interior at this study site led to the difference in survival rates.
- Still, they caution that the apparent benefits of one road for a small subset of a single species don’t necessarily extend to the broader bird community, and say that planners should avoid building roads through areas of high conservation value.
- More research is necessary to determine if this effect is specific just to this study site.
Pesticides could be painting black howler monkeys yellow in Costa Rica
- Mantled howler monkeys in Costa Rica are starting to appear with patches of yellow fur on their usually black coats.
- A team of scientists believes that the dappled monkeys are consuming sulfur-containing pesticides along with the leaves they eat.
- Sulfur from the pesticide ends up in the monkeys’ pigmentation, resulting in splashes of yellow on their coats.
New dam set to spoil Sumatran wonderland (commentary)
- Amid the tropical rainforest in the Hadabuan Hills Ecosystem, where Siamang and Agile gibbons cry out and where Rhinoceros hornbills and Black hornbills growl and cackle above the forest canopy, survey work by a Korean hydroelectric company has just wrapped up, and construction is slated to begin in 2020 on a dam called Siborpa Hydroelectric Power Plant.
- The Hadabuan Hills isn’t a national park or a wildlife sanctuary; about half of it is considered a hutan desa, or village forest. It is essentially a cluster of steep mountains that were too difficult to cultivate quickly and easily, and were thus spared wholesale conversion to oil palm plantations due to the challenging topography.
- So far we have confirmed the presence of tigers, clouded leopards, marbled cats, golden cats, Malayan tapirs, sun bears, leaf monkeys, the fast-disappearing Sumatran Laughingthrush, and a plethora of other wildlife. If this place isn’t a national treasure, we don’t know what is. To see it badly scarred by a hydroelectric dam of questionable use and value would be deeply disturbing.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
China’s primates could disappear by end of this century, study warns
- China has some 25 species of primates, of which 15 to 18 have fewer than 3,000 individuals surviving in the wild, according to a new study.
- Two species of gibbons have become extinct in China in just the past two decades, while two other species of gibbons have fewer than 30 individuals in the country.
- Researchers warn that primate distributions in China could shrink by 51 percent to 87 percent by the end of this century.
- Expanding suitable habitat for primates is critical, the researchers say, as is prioritizing a network of protected corridors that can connect isolated primate subpopulations.
How a better understanding of psychopathology in captive primates can aid in conservation efforts
- Maya Kummrow, a doctor of veterinary medicine, writes in a paper recently published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine that non-human primates have been used as models of human psychopathology — the study of mental illness — for decades. But, she notes, “the acquired knowledge has only hesitantly been applied to primates themselves.”
- In the paper, Kummrow states that she is seeking to raise awareness among her fellow veterinarians about the wealth of information on NHP psychopathology that is available in human medicine and anthropology literature and calls for “mental health assessments and professionally structured treatment approaches” in NHP medicine, as well.
- In this Q&A, Mongabay spoke with Kummrow about how her review of the literature on NHP psychopathology and treatment might apply to primate conservation efforts.
Primate-rich countries are becoming less hospitable places for monkeys, apes and lemurs
- New research shows that many of the 65 percent of the world’s primate species found in four countries — Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo — face the threat of extinction.
- The scientists involved in the study used maps of primate ranges and information on the threats they face to predict what might happen to the animals through the end of the 21st century.
- They found that increases in the amount of land turned over for human food production could cause the primate habitats to shrink substantially in these countries.
- However, the team also found that intensive conservation measures could dramatically reduce the loss of primate habitat by 2100 and potentially avert the mass extinction of these species.
Renowned wildlife conservationist Russell Mittermeier awarded 2018 Indianapolis Prize
- Mittermeier, a primatologist, herpetologist, and highly accomplished conservationist, is the seventh recipient of the prestigious prize, which has been awarded by the Indianapolis Zoological Society along with $250,000 in prize money every two years since 2006 to “the most successful animal conservationist in the world.”
- He spent 11 years at WWF–U.S. before becoming president of Conservation International (CI) in 1989. It was while he was at CI that Mittermeier first heard of the concept of “biodiversity hotspots” — a concept he would go on to popularize and utilize to achieve a number of conservation successes.
- “Russ Mittermeier is a consummate scientist, a visionary leader, a deft policy advocate and an inspiring mentor to many,” Michael Crowther, chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Zoological Society, said in a statement. “Perhaps most important, he is a consistent winner in the battles for species and ecosystem survival.”
Venezuela’s hungry hunt wildlife, zoo animals, as economic crisis grows
- Venezuela is suffering a disastrous economic crisis. With inflation expected to hit 13,000 percent in 2018, there has been a collapse of agricultural productivity, commercial transportation and other services, which has resulted in severe food shortages. As people starve, they are increasingly hunting wildlife, and sometimes zoo animals.
- Reports from the nation’s zoos say that animals are emaciated, with keepers sometimes forced to feed one form of wildlife to another, just to keep some animals alive. There have also been reports of mammals and birds being stolen from zoo collections. Zoos have reached out to Venezuelans, seeking donations to help feed their wild animals.
- The economic crisis makes scientific data gathering difficult, but a significant uptick in the harvesting of Guiana dolphin, known locally as tonina, has been observed. The dolphin is protected from commercial trade under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- The grisly remains of hunted pink flamingos have been found repeatedly on Lake Maracaibo. Also within the estuary, there has also been a rise in the harvesting of sea turtle species, including the vulnerable leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and the critically endangered hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata).
New short film captures rare spider monkey feeding behavior (commentary)
- A new short film captures rarely seen footage of endangered spider monkeys feeding at a mammal clay lick in the remote Peruvian Amazon.
- A Rainforest Reborn, a short documentary by filmmaker Eilidh Munro, was captured in the Crees Reserve, a regenerating rainforest within the Manu Biosphere Reserve, giving us hope that endangered species can return to previously disturbed forests.
- In this commentary, the filmmaker, Eilidh Munro, talks about the difficulties of filming spider monkeys in a rainforest and the importance of this story for conservation.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Animal trainers are teaching wildlife to conserve themselves
- Positive training helps pets and their owners bond. But animal trainers working to conserve wildlife often have the opposite goal: teaching animals in the wild to avoid human beings — people often being the most dangerous creatures in the jungle.
- Wildlife kept in zoos have been trained with rewards to accept unnatural processes, procedures that previously might have required restraint or even anesthesia: allowing tooth brushing, hoof trimming, injections and blood draws — turning once alien actions into positive experiences for the captive animals.
- Animal trainers decades ago learned to train dolphins without having physical contact with the animals. More recently, a chimpanzee troop in Sierra Leone was taught to scream alarm in unison when poachers approached, alerting nearby rangers to come to the rescue — achieving an 80 percent decrease in poaching.
- Trainers have taught captive bred condors how to be more like wild condors, seeking food within their natural habitat and not congregating in towns. They’ve also taught polar bears to avoid anything associated with humans, preventing the bears from raiding trash cans and significantly decreasing wildlife conflicts.
Yellow fever may threaten biophilia in São Paulo city (commentary)
- Reconciling biodiversity conservation and urban development is one of the biggest challenges for humanity, considering that by 2030, 60 percent of people globally are expected to live in cities.
- There are currently numerous forest fragments rooted in an urban matrix. On the one hand, these remnant forests confer many benefits on human society. One the other hand, forests may cause biophobias related to human fear and avoidance of some animals, misconceptions about animals’ risks, and the association of forest with dangerous and unsafe areas.
- A recent increase of yellow fever cases in highly urbanized cities in Brazil’s Atlantic forest – a tropical hotspot of biodiversity – can threaten the balance between biophilia and biophobia.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
150 years after being discovered, African monkey with handlebar moustache becomes its own species
An African monkey first described to science more than 150 years ago has now been elevated to full species status. The Blue Nile patas monkey is found in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia as well as in eastern Sudan. Its range is geographically distinct from that of other patas monkeys, as Sudan’s Sudd swamp […]
Sarawak makes 80% forest preservation commitment, but some have doubts
- The Malaysian state of Sarawak is committing to the preservation of 80 percent of its land area as primary and secondary forest, according to an announcement by Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
- According to data, concession boundaries for oil palm and other kinds of tree plantations covered 32.7 percent of Sarawak’s land area as of 2010/11, suggesting that if Sarawak is to fulfill its commitment to preserve 80 percent of its land as primary and secondary forest, then it may need to cancel some of these concessions.
- The director of environmental and human rights watchdog organization Earthsight expressed doubts that Sarawak will follow through on the commitment, and recommends the state increase transparency and crack down on illegal logging.
East Africa’s Albertine Rift needs protection now, scientists say
- The Albertine Rift in East Africa is home to more than 500 species of plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet.
- Created by the stretching apart of tectonic plates, the unique ecosystems of the Albertine Rift are also under threat from encroaching human population and climate change.
- A new report details a plan to protect the landscapes that make up the Rift at a cost of around $21 million per year — a bargain rate, scientists argue, given the number of threatened species that could be saved.
Peru declares a huge new national park in the Amazon
- Yaguas National Park is located in the Loreto Region of northern Peru and covers more than 868,000 hectares of Amazonian rainforest – around the size of Yellowstone National Park in the U.S.
- Peru’s newest national park is home to more than 3,000 species of plants, 500 species of birds and 160 species of mammals.
- Yaguas National Park holds around 550 fish species, representing two-thirds of Peru’s freshwater fish diversity – more than any other place in the country, and one of the richest freshwater fish assemblages in the world.
Critically endangered monkeys found in Ghana forest slated for mining
- Researchers were surprised to discover white-naped mangabeys (Cercocebus lunulatus) while reviewing camera trap footage captured in Ghana’s Atewa mountain range.
- The white-naped mangabey has declined by more than 50 percent in less than three decades and is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. Habitat loss and hunting are its major threats. The camera trap footage is the first record of the species in eastern Ghana.
- Deposits of bauxite, from which aluminum is produced, underlie Atewa’s forests. The Ghanaian government is reportedly gearing up to develop mining operations and associated infrastructure for bauxite extraction, refinement and export.
- Conservation organizations and other stakeholders are urging the government to cease its plans for mining and more effectively protect Atewa by turning the region into a national park.
Zanzibar’s red colobus monkeys much more numerous than thought
- The team logged 4,725 hours over 2 years tracking down more than 4,000 individual Zanzibar red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus kirkii).
- Protected areas house nearly 70 percent of the monkeys they found, where monkey groups tended to be larger and to have more females than those outside of parks and reserves.
- The team also found that a relatively small number of young monkeys survive to adulthood, and they concluded that the overall population might be declining.
Monkey business: Building a global database of primate conservation studies (commentary)
- While one primate — Homo sapiens — has flourished and spread across the planet, about 60 percent of non-human primate species are threatened with extinction. Conservation of these intelligent, complex creatures can be challenging on many levels.
- Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, together with researchers at the University of Cambridge (where I work), have just published the results of a three-year project gathering the data on how well primate conservation initiatives have worked to conserve species from lemurs to chimpanzees.
- The idea is simple: to present the current evidence for every intervention people might do to conserve primates, so that primate conservationists can learn from the best available data at the click of a mouse. This global database on primate conservation interventions is available to view for free.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Here is the most current list of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates
- According to the biennial Primates In Peril report, the latest installment of which was released today at the Primate Society of Great Britain’s 50th anniversary conference in London, 62 percent of the more than 700 known species and subspecies of apes, lemurs, monkeys, and other primates are currently facing serious threats to their survival. Forty-two percent of them are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered.
- The report lists the top 25 most endangered primate species, and while the list was compiled before the Batang Toru orangutan was described to science, the authors of the report said it would almost certainly appear on the list next year.
- The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), the Batang Toru orangutan’s closest relative, makes its first-ever appearance on the list, however. Eight other species from Asia join the Bornean orangutan on the list, as do five species from the Neotropics, five species from Africa, and six lemurs from Madagascar.
Booming legal Amazon wildlife trade documented in new report
- Wildlife trade attention has recently focused on Africa. But a new report spotlights the brisk legal international trade in plants and animals from eight Amazon nations. The report did not look at the illegal trade, whose scope is largely unknown.
- The US$128 million industry exports 14 million animals and plants annually, plus one million kilograms by weight, including caiman and peccary skins for the fashion industry, live turtles and parrots for the pet trade, and arapaima for the food industry.
- The report authors note that such trade, conducted properly, can have benefits for national economies, for livelihoods, and even for wildlife — animals bred in captivity, for example, can provide scientists with vital data for sustaining wild populations.
- The report strongly emphasizes the need for monitoring, regulating and enforcing sustainable harvest levels of wild animals and plants if the legal trade is to continue to thrive, and if Amazonian forests and rivers are not to be emptied of their wildlife.
Liberian park protects Critically Endangered western chimpanzees
- The establishment of Grebo-Krahn National Park in southeastern Liberia was approved by the country’s legislature in August 2017.
- The 961-square-kilometer (371-square-mile) park is home to an estimated 300 western chimpanzees.
- There are about 35,000 Critically Endangered western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) left in the wild, and Liberia is home to 7,000 of them.
Monkey rediscovered in Brazil after 80 years
- An Ecuadorian naturalist collected the bald-faced Vanzolini saki in 1936 along the Eiru River. His record was the first and last known living evidence of the species.
- In February 2017, an expedition called Houseboat Amazon set out to survey the forest along the Juruá River and its tributaries, with the hopes of finding the Vanzolini saki.
- After just four days, the team spotted one leaping from branch to branch in a tall tree by the Eiru River.
- The saki’s habitat is still fairly pristine, but the scientists worry its proximity to Brazil’s “arc of deforestation” and hunting pressure may threaten the species in the future.
Canopy bridges keep rainforest animals connected over gas pipeline
- Pipelines, roads, railways and transmission lines cause severe habitat fragmentation in the Amazon rainforest. A new study looked at canopy connectivity for large arboreal mammal populations using natural bridges above a new gas pipeline in Peru.
- In 7,102 canopy camera trap nights, the crossing rate of natural bridges in the canopy above a new pipeline was surprisingly high: nearly 200 times that of the ground (3,100+ overhead versus 16 ground occurrences).
- Researchers recorded 25 species from 12 mammal families using natural canopy bridges in 3,372 photo events, including night monkeys, kinkajous, olingos, dwarf porcupines, opossums and squirrels.
- These results suggest natural and artificial canopy bridges could significantly improve habitat connectivity for rainforest arboreal species when new, or already existing, transportation, mining and energy corridors threaten fragmentation
Not out of the woods: Concerns remain with Nigerian superhighway
- The six-lane highway was shifted in April to the west so that it no longer cuts through the center of Cross River National Park, a ‘biological jewel’ that is home to 18 primate species.
- In a new study, scientists report that multiple alternative routes exist that would still provide the intended economic connections and avoid harming the environment in the area.
- However, Nigerian conservation and community rights group worry that the state government won’t follow through on its promises.
Howler monkeys booming in Belize sanctuary 25 years after translocation
- Disease, hurricanes and hunting wiped out the native howler monkeys living in the Cockscomb Basin by the 1970s.
- Between 1992 and 1994, 62 black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) were relocated from a nearby reserve.
- After surveying the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in March and April, scientists figure there are at least 170 howler monkeys – and perhaps many more – living all over the 51,800-hectare (128,000-acre) preserve.
Yellow fever is killing howler monkeys in Brazil
- Brown howler monkeys are extremely susceptible to yellow fever, and an outbreak can cause local extinctions.
- Hundreds of brown howler monkeys are estimated to have died at the RPPN-FMA reserve due to yellow fever.
- Fortunately, the critically endangerd muriquis (also found in the reserve) seem less susceptible to yellow fever than the howler monkeys.
13,000 acres of cloud forest now protected in Colombia
- Cacica Noría Regional Protected Area safeguards one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.
- The reserve will be managed by CorAntioquia, the Anorí Environmental Working Group and Proaves.
- Despite protection, the new park remains threatened by climate change.
“Predator Mobbing:” Watch gibbons, monkeys team up to fight off leopard
- A field team with the Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) was in the Sabangau Forest of Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo studying wild Maroon Langur monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) as part of a long-term behavioral research project when they witnessed the rare phenomenon, known as “predator mobbing,” first-hand.
- The monkeys responded after a group of Endangered Bornean White-bearded Gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis) started making alarm calls upon discovering a Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) hiding in their midst.
- The two primate species then proceeded to continuously issue warning calls for over two-and-a-half hours in the direction of tangled lianas in the forest canopy in which the leopard was hiding — a cooperative, multi-species interaction that is incredibly unusual for researchers to observe in the wild.
Climate change driving widespread local extinctions; tropics most at risk
- Climate change forces three fates on species: adapt, flee or die. A new meta-analysis compiled data from 27 studies to see how species distributions have changed over timescales of 10-159 years, and included 976 species. Almost half (47 percent) had seen some local populations disappear along the warming edge of their ranges.
- The tropics were especially vulnerable to climate change-driven local extinctions. The data showed that 55 percent of tropical and subtropical species experienced local extinctions, whereas the figure was only 39 percent for temperate species. Though the tropical data set was not large, this higher tropical risk concurs with past studies.
- Tropical species are at greater risk due to climate change because they live in some of the world’s hottest environments, so are already at the upper limit of known temperature adaptation, are restricted to small areas, particular rare habitats, and narrow temperature ranges, or have poor dispersal ability and slow reproductive rates.
- Scientists see multiple solutions to the problem: beyond the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions, they recommend conserving large core areas of habitat, and preserving strong connectivity between those core areas, so plants and animals can move more freely between them as required as the world warms.
Audio: Meet the ‘Almost Famous Animals’ that deserve more conservation recognition
- The Almost Famous series was created in the hope that familiarity will help generate concern and action for under-appreciated species. Glenn tells us all about how species get selected for coverage and his favorite animals profiled in the series.
- We also feature another installment of our Field Notes segment on this episode of the Newscast.
- Luca Pozzi, an evolutionary primatologist at the University of Texas, San Antonio, recently helped establish a new genus of galagos, or bushbabies, found in southeastern Africa. We play some of the calls made by galagos in the wild, and Luca explains how those recordings aid in our scientific knowledge about wildlife.
Forests provide a nutritional boon to some communities, research shows
- The new study, across 24 countries, shows a wide range in the variability of how communities use forests for food.
- The nutrients provided by wild fruits, vegetables, game and fish are critical to the nutritional health of some communities and should play a role in decisions about land usage.
- Land-use decisions should factor in the importance of forest foods to some communities, say the authors.
The Republic of Congo: on the cusp of forest conservation
- The Republic of Congo’s high forest cover and low annual deforestation rates of just over 0.05 percent have led to the country being named as a priority country by the UN’s REDD+ program.
- The country has numerous protected areas and has signed agreements to certify the sustainability and legality of its timber industry.
- Skeptics caution that more needs to be done to address corruption and protect the country’s forests, a third of which are still relatively untouched.
Scrapping Nigerian superhighway buffer isn’t enough, say conservation groups
- The superhighway project, intended to stimulate the Cross River state economy, will no longer include a 20-kilometer-wide buffer zone along its 260-kilometer length.
- The NGO Wildlife Conservation Society said minimizing the destruction necessary for the buffer zone was an important step, but that it will still disrupt communities and wildlife.
- Representatives of the Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, told the media that they intended to move forward with the superhighway despite the criticism.
Field Notes: Predicting how the pet trade spreads infectious disease
- The exotic animal trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the US is the world’s leading importer. While the US government is on the alert for well known animal-transmitted diseases, there is no mandatory health surveillance for most animals coming though US ports for commercial distribution.
- Live animal imports could bring new diseases into the US and infect endemic wildlife, with devastating consequences as, for example, was seen with the worldwide exposure of amphibians to Chytrid fungus which resulted in the decline of more than 200 species.
- Elizabeth Daut is drawing on her training as a veterinarian and her extensive experience with wildlife to create a computer model that evaluates the risk of importing infectious diseases to the US via the exotic animal trade.
- Predictions produced by her model could help prioritize which species and exporting countries might warrant extra attention at ports of entry. With a better understanding of disease risks, government agencies could improve surveillance and develop better infectious disease prevention plans.
New population of rare Dryas monkey videotaped for the first time
- Fewer than 200 Dryas monkeys are believed to survive in the wild today.
- Videotaping the secretive monkeys was not easy.
- Researchers set up cameras on the ground, in the understory and even climbed very tall trees to attach cameras in the canopy.
- The team hopes that their camera trapping exercise will help them document where new Dryas populations live.
Scientists launch expedition to find missing monkeys
- Vanzolini’s bald-faced saki hasn’t been seen since scientists first discovered it in western Brazil in the 1930s.
- Navigating along the Rio Juruá and its tributaries, the expedition will be the first comprehensive biological survey of the region.
- Its international team of researchers hopes to uncover the saki, as well as other yet-undocumented species, while calling conservation attention to the river and surrounding rainforest.
Meet one of the filmmakers behind Planet Earth 2
- Planet Earth II, produced by the BBC, involved 40 different countries and more than 2,000 days of shooting.
- The six-part series showcased some of the rarest footage of wildlife from remote islands and deserts to high mountain ranges, forests, grasslands and bustling cities.
- Mongabay interviewed one of the filmmakers involved, Sandesh Kadur, to understand what it takes to film captivating sequences of animals in the wild and within cities.
Primates face impending extinction – what’s next?
- Nonhuman primates are on the decline almost everywhere.
- The third most diverse Order of mammals, primates are under the highest level of threat of any larger group of mammals, and among the highest of any group of vertebrates
- 63% of primates are threatened, meaning that they fall into one of the three IUCN categories of threat—Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.
- This post is a commentary – the views expressed are those of the authors.
Bridge through Borneo wildlife sanctuary moving forward
- For more than a year, scientists and conservationists have argued that the 350-meter (1,148-foot) Sukau bridge crossing the Kinabatangan River in the Malaysian state of Sabah would hurt wildlife populations and a blossoming ecotourism market more than it would boost local economies.
- The paved road that would accompany the bridge would cut through the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, home to Borneo elephants and 11 species of primates including orangutans.
- A government official responded to recent reports about the bridge’s construction, saying that it would not begin until the environmental impact assessment has been completed.
Scientists ‘impressed and delighted’ by animals found in remnant forests
- A new study finds promising conservation value in forest corridors along rivers in Sumatra’s plantation-dominated landscape.
- But government regulations require areas of forest that border rivers — called “riparian” forests – be left standing to safeguard water quality for downstream communities.
- In the first study of its kind conducted in the tropics, researchers set camera traps in riparian forests through tree plantations near Tesso Nilo National Park. They found a significant mammal presence, including tapirs, tigers, bears, pangolins, and elephants.
- The researchers say their findings indicate Sumatra’s forest remnants could help keep wildlife populations afloat in areas with lots of habitat loss. However, they caution that these corridors are threatened by lax regulation enforcement, and can only work in tandem with larger forested areas.
Bastion of biodiversity protected in eastern DRC
- The Kabobo Natural Reserve, together with the adjoining Ngandja and Luama Katanga Reserves, protects nearly 7,000 square kilometers of important habitat for biodiversity, watersheds and forests near Lake Tanganyika.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society said that the involvement of local communities has been critical to protecting the area, and that their participation will continue in the management of the reserve.
- Surveys of the Kabobo Natural Reserve put the number of land animals present at 558 and plat species at 1,410.
- Scientists first discovered Prigogine’s black and white colobus monkey (Colobus angolensis prigoginei) in the area in the 1950s.
New population of rare Myanmar snub-nosed monkey discovered in China
- Between October 2013 and September 2015, Chinese researchers successfully captured more than 200 camera trap images of the monkey, and even videotaped the monkeys on the eastern slopes of Gaoligong Mountains.
- This discovery is good news for the species, researchers say, because the populations in Myanmar and Pianma on the western slopes of Gaoligong Mountains are declining due to hunting and habitat degradation.
- The team estimates that the new population — called the Luoma population — might have more than 70 individuals.
Home for the holidays: Chimp exits war-torn Iraq, lands in Kenya
- After years of effort, animal welfare advocates have negotiated the freedom of Manno, a trafficked chimpanzee who had been smuggled out of Syria for $15,000 and into a private zoo in Iraqi Kurdistan. At the zoo, Manno suffered severely cramped conditions; he was fed a steady diet consisting mostly of snack foods.
- Freeing the animal involved diplomatic negotiations at the highest level in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Kenya. Manno arrived in Kenya on November 30, and is undergoing a 90-day health quarantine at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
- The young chimp still must be accepted into the Sanctuary population. This is a slow, possibly multiyear, process, requiring introduction to a foster mother, followed by introduction to female chimps, then other males in the community. Manno’s long acclimation to humans will not allow him to ever return to the wild.
- The chimp’s rescue was facilitated by individuals and organizations including Spencer Seykar, a Canadian high school teacher; Jason Mier, the executive director of Animals Lebanon; Jane Goodall and her institute; Daniel Stiles of the Project to End Great Ape Slavery; Dr. Stephen Ngulu, head wildlife veterinarian at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the staff of Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, and others.
Newscast #6: Carl Safina on marine conservation and Trump
- We also welcome to the show Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who fills us in on the origins of Mongabay and where it’s going in 2017.
- If you’ve got a question about environmental science and conservation, we’d be happy to answer it for you! Just drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll answer your question in a future episode of the Mongabay Newscast.
- And don’t forget, you can find all of our podcast episodes on Stitcher, TuneIn, iTunes, Google Play, and RSS.
Top scientists: Amazon’s Tapajós Dam Complex “a crisis in the making”
- BRAZIL’S GRAND PLAN: Build 40+ dams, new roads and railways at the heart of the Amazon to transport soy from the interior to the coast and foreign markets, turning the Tapajós Basin and its river systems into an industrial waterway, leading to unprecedented deforestation, top researchers say.
- ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS: “The effects would clearly be devastating for the ecology and connectivity of the greater Tapajós Basin,” says William Laurance, of James Cook University, Australia; a leading rainforest ecology scientist. “It is not overstating matters to term this a crisis in the making.”
- HUMAN IMPACTS: The dams would produce “A human rights crisis, driven by the flooding of indigenous territories and forced relocation of indigenous villages… [plus] the loss of fisheries, reduced fertility of fertile floodplains, and polluting of clean water sources,” says Amazon Watch’s Christian Poirier.
- CLIMATE IMPACTS: “The worst-case scenario… over 200,000 square kilometers of deforestation,” says climatologist Carlos Nobre, which would be “very serious” and create “regional climate change.” Tapajós deforestation could even help tip the global scales, as the Amazon ceases being a carbon sink, and becomes a carbon source — with grave consequences for the planet.
Where have all the lutungs gone? Mystery monkeys fast disappearing
- Asia boasts 16 species of lutung, in two ranges, one in south central and Southeast Asia (northeast India, southern China, Taiwan, Borneo, Thailand, Java and Bali), and the other at the southern tip of India and on Sri Lanka.
- Lutungs are tree dwellers, threatened by a rapid loss of tropical forests due to oil palm plantations, logging, and human population growth; the animals are also illegally hunted for bushmeat, traditional medicine and the pet trade.
- Like so many Almost Famous species, lutungs suffer from a lack of publicity, research, funding and local concern. Except for a few species, most are protected accidentally, when a forest in which lutungs live is preserved by a government or NGO trying to protect charismatic megafauna.
- Of the 16 lutung species, the IUCN assesses 4 as Vulnerable, 2 as Near Threatened, 7 as Endangered, 2 as Critically Endangered, and one as suffering from insufficient data for a conservation assessment. While surveys are lacking, all lutungs are known to be in decline, some alarmingly.
Nigerian superhighway project draws international attention over threats to local communities and wildlife
- The Ekuri Initiative, a forest stewardship organization run by one of the indigenous communities whose land lies in the path of the Cross River Superhighway, has already delivered 253,000 signatures to the federal government asking for their ancestral forests to be protected.
- Several protected areas, including the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the Afi River Forest Reserve, Cross River National Park, Cross River South Forest Reserve, and Ukpon River Forest Reserve, would also be impacted by development of the highway, WCS notes.
- A number of threatened species live in these protected areas, including forest elephants, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, drills, Preuss’s red colobus monkeys, pangolins, slender-snouted crocodiles, African gray parrots, and many others.
Hunted to the brink: Mammals in crisis
- A study pulling together information on threatened land mammals found that hunting for meat and medicine is driving 301 toward extinction.
- The authors raise concerns about food security for humans and ecosystem collapse if we don’t prevent this crisis for mammals.
- Proposed solutions include shoring up international markets for bushmeat and animal body parts, investments in laws and enforcement to protect wildlife, and increased education about the scale of the problem.
The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey: discovered and immediately endangered
- Discovered in 2010 and promptly listed as Critically Endangered, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey lives only in the remote high forests of Northeast Myanmar, and across the border in China’s Gaoligong Mountain Natural Reserve. There are as few as 260-330 left in the wild.
- Hunting, illegal logging and proposed hydropower development, taking place within the context of a simmering civil conflict, threaten to push the species to extinction.
- On the plus side, conservationists have already gone a long way toward winning over local communities, getting them to stop hunting the animals; while the government’s approval of a newly proposed national park offers hope that the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey can be preserved.
International trade in Barbary macaques banned
- Once widespread, only about 6,500 to 9,100 Barbary macaque are now estimated to occur in fragmented forest patches of Algeria and Morocco in North Africa. A small, introduced population of 200 monkeys also lives on the Rock of Gibraltar in Europe.
- Barbary macaque remains the most frequently seized CITES-listed live mammal in the European Union.
- Conservationists hope that the inclusion of the Barbary macaque in Appendix I will ensure greater protection to the species against poaching and illegal trade.
Alaska’s salmon and Vietnam’s doucs: wildlife narratives by Producer Tim Plowden
Tim Plowden has done a little bit of everything when it comes to the animal world. The producer of two films to be aired in 2016’s WCFF festival, award-winning The Return of the Salmon and Red-Shanked Douc: Primates on the Edge, Plowden is also known for stunning wildlife photography and for articles chronicling his experiences […]
What wild monkeys can teach us about the origins of human language
- A study published last month in the journal Animal Cognition looked at gestural communication and its cognitive and developmental bases in a wild population of bonnet macaques, a monkey species endemic to peninsular India.
- Bonnet macaques were found to employ four different gestures to solicit grooming from other monkeys and even to indicate the parts of their bodies they want groomed.
- This might be an indication that primitive language-like capacities arose in the primate lineage even before apes evolved, since Bonnet macaques are Old World monkeys, which are evolutionarily older than the anthropoid apes.
DRC declares first new national park in 40 years
- The Democratic Republic of Congo has been losing more and more forest every year to subsistence activities, mining, and farming. Continuing conflict is exacerbating the situation.
- The creation of the new 2.2 million-acre Lomami National Park grants protection to a remote, relatively unscathed area home to an abundance of wildlife.
- A decade of surveying in the region led the way to the creation of the park, with researchers discovering an expanded bonobo range, as well as a new species of monkey: the colorful lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis).
- Conservationists and government officials are working with local communities within and around the park to ensure protection of the region and promote sustainable livelihoods.
Unknown, ignored and disappearing: Asia’s Almost Famous Animals
- Asia is home to a vast array of primates and other mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish — all fascinating, all uniquely adapted to their habitats. Many are seriously threatened, but little known by the public.
- One conservation argument says that protecting charismatic species like tigers, rhinos and orangutans and their habitat will also protect lesser known species such as pangolins, langurs and the Malayan tapir. But this is a flawed safety net through which many little known species may fall into oblivion.
- Over the next six months, Mongabay will introduce readers to 20 Almost Famous Asian Animals — a handful of Asia’s little known fauna — in the hope that familiarity will help generate concern and action.
- In this first overview article, we rely as much on pictures as on words to profile some of Asia’s most beautiful, ugly, strange, magnificent and little known animals.
Scientists are developing useful new tools for surveying elusive rainforest mammals
- A team of researchers used arboreal camera traps and traditional ground-based survey techniques to collect 1,201 records of 24 arboreal mammal species. Six of the species were detected only by the arboreal camera traps.
- Previous research has shown that canopy-dwelling species might be more severely affected by human disturbance than terrestrial species, and cameras in the canopy could allow scientists to answer the question of whether or not arboreal mammals are being affected in a similar way.
- Despite what you might expect, deploying arboreal camera traps doesn’t necessarily cost more than traditional survey methods.
Video: Critically Endangered monkey ‘chatters’ for camera
- The Wildlife Conservation Society has launched its first full-scale camera trapping campaign in northern Sulawesi in collaboration with the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park authority.
- Cameras have been capturing footage of rare wildlife found only in the region.
- Videos show a critically endangered black-crested macaque “chattering” at a camera and a near-threatened Sulawesi warty pig ambling past one.
The dangers of China’s ‘thumb monkey’ trend
- Pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkey species, are being sold in pets in China to celebrate the “year of the monkey.”
- Researchers say this market for exotic pets is driving wildlife trafficking around the world.
- Scientists estimate hundreds of thousands of primates are trafficked in Peru alone. Most of them die before being sold as pets and those that make it out of the pet store likely don’t last much longer.
Primate-Watching: In the Year of the Monkey, let’s build a Conservation Movement
- Russ Mittermeier, long-time Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Executive Vice-Chair of Conservation International is using the “Year of the Monkey” to highlight the concept of primate-watching based on a bird-watching model.
- Here he explains what it means and how it can play a major role in conserving these wonderful animals, our closest living relatives.
- This post is a commentary — the views expressed are those of the author.
Over-hunting’s surprising connection to global warming
- A significant amount of the Amazon rainforest’s above-ground carbon stock could be lost if key seed-dispersing species continue to be over-hunted — even if the forest is protected from all other threats.
- Over-hunting of larger mammals like tapirs and monkeys can lead to declines in the carbon content of the Amazon.
- 2.5 to 5.8 percent losses in above-ground biomass on average could be lost, according to researchers.
Potential crisis in Sabah’s amazing Kinabatangan rainforest
- Malaysian Borneo’s Kinabatangan has become famous in primatological circles for its species richness.
- But a proposed road project could put parts of the ecosystem at risk.
- Russ Mittermeier asks policymakers to consider the long-term impacts of the road.
- This post is a commentary — the views expressed are those of the author.
Wildlife catastrophe at Amazon dam a warning for future Tapajós dams
- There’s a wealth of evidence from around the world that tropical hydroelectric dams and their gigantic reservoirs do tremendous harm to aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity.
- 43 large dams are planned for the Amazon’s Tapajós River Basin, with hundreds more being considered for the rest of the Amazon. A study of the 30-year-old Balbina dam found that biodiversity plummeted after it was built.
- The challenge in the Amazon, with the recent onslaught of so many new dam projects, is to gather baseline wildlife data, study potential habitat impacts, and find solutions to be included in project designs to protect animals — a near impossibility when governments, like that of Brazil, act in secrecy and largely fail to work with researchers.
Bellavista no more: Peru’s infamous wildlife market reduced to rubble
- Bellavista market operated for 20 years; wildlife rescue groups and health officials have made repeated pleas to officials since 2007 for it to be shut down.
- Wildlife vendors illegally dealt in dozens of species including the yellow-headed caracara, Amazonian pygmy owl, ocelot, Goeldi’s monkey, green anaconda, and mata mata turtle.
- Wild and domestic species were routinely housed together, increasing disease transmission risks between animals and humans.
200,000 of Peru’s primates trafficked for pet trade or bushmeat yearly
- Peru has 71 primate species, 8 of which are endemic — all are at risk from trafficking; hunters often target the most endangered species for the pet trade because, being rare, they earn the biggest profits.
- Hunters typically kill adult primates and eat them, or sell the animals as bushmeat, while simultaneously capturing their young to sell to domestic or international pet trade traffickers.
- Peru is “an archetypal example of a mega-diverse Neotropical country with a thriving illegal wildlife pet trade designed to fulfill demand from domestic consumers, particularly in urban areas,” – Elizabeth F. Daut, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University.
Meet the world’s 25 most endangered primates
- International coalition of 63 primate experts has released latest edition of report that highlights the world’s 25 most endangered primates.
- Four primate species have made it to the list for the first time.
- Madagascar tops the list with five most endangered species, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.
Eden Besieged: Amazonia’s Matchless Wildlife Pillaged by Traffickers
- Jaguars, parrots, spectacled bears, giant river otters, turtles, and thousands of other species, already under pressure from Amazon habitat loss and development, are now threatened by a growing wave of animal trafficking.
- Uncounted numbers of animals, and animal parts, are smuggled into the U.S. annually, with America’s 130 US Fish and Wildlife Service agents overwhelmed by the millions of tons of imported goods entering the nation.
- As rainforests are drained of wildlife by traffickers — sometimes with the aid of indigenous hunters armed with modern weapons — indigenous people are drawn away from their traditional cultures into modern cash economies.
Cameroon convicts activist campaigning against palm oil company
- Herakles Farms, a controversial U.S.-based company, plans to clear develop oil palm plantations in the country’s northeast region.
- The company maintains its project will be environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial for local communities. But watchdog organizations say it will displace the habitat of endangered species, hurt the livelihoods of local people, and sully water supplies. Satellite date show many of the plantations are slated to be developed in primary forest.
- International environmental and human rights organizations are speaking out against the conviction of Besingi. His lawyer is calling the charges “trumped up” and says they plan to appeal.
Latin American illegal wildlife trade exploding in scope and scale
- Latin America is astoundingly biologically diverse, while its enforcement of wildlife trading laws is extremely weak, creating the perfect market for traffickers.
- Traffickers sell the majority of animals domestically, though there is a huge international market with a high demand for birds, fish, monkeys and more — the rarer the animal, the higher the asking price, and bigger the profit.
- The legal trade often provides cover for illegal trafficking, with large numbers of wild-caught animals laundered by legally sanctioned captive breeders.
São Paolo Trafficking: Smuggling Brazil’s Wildlife
- Brazil possesses extraordinary biodiversity, which makes it a place in which wildlife traffickers thrive, earning US $2 billion annually, while draining wild lands of tropical birds, fish, turtles, snakes and mammals in unsustainable numbers.
- While the country has strong wildlife protection laws, these are very poorly enforced, and a legal loophole, allowing 1,000 licensed wildlife breeders to operate, results in animals being captured illegally and “laundered” by captive breeders.
- “To turn the tide on [trafficking] of this magnitude, a global response is going to have to be much better — and all possible support needs to be provided to the countries… on the front lines,” said Helen Clark, Administrator for the UN Development Programme in September.
Bird market photo yields an unknown monkey species in Indonesia
- Two photos taken in Jakarta’s notorious bird market suggest that Indonesia’s forests may be hiding a previously undocumented species of monkey.
- The photos spurred researcher Francesco Nardelli to embark on a five-year survey of zoos, museums, and the Internet to determine whether the primate was in fact new to science.
- Nardelli named new species Presbytis johnaspinalli in honor of John Aspinall, a conservationist who founded the Howletts and Port Lympne Wildlife Parks in the U.K. and the Aspinall Foundation.
- One primatologist reached by Mongabay cautioned that the primates used for the description could have been bleached by traders to increase their market value.
The Muriqui: Brazil’s critically endangered “hippie monkey” hangs tough
- Less than 2,000 northern and southern muriqui live on in the remaining fragments of Brazil’s Atlantic forest.
- Karen Strier and other researchers — many of them her former students — have taken up the cause of protecting these unique primates, with a good deal of success.
- For $150,000 US, “the equivalent of a few SCUD missiles, we could save the largest population of northern muriquis for posterity,” says Strier. Another $300,000 would protect critical habitat for the southern species.
Saving the Barbary Macaque: An interview with Dr. Sian Waters
- The Barbary macaque is North Africa’s only primate; threatened by tourism, animal trafficking, cannabis cultivation and hunting.
- Dr. Sian Waters was amazed to learn that this primate, so close to Europe, was unstudied and lacked any effort to conserve it.
- She has developed a highly effective conservation program built on gaining the trust and support of the local community.
Scientists discover new primate in the embattled heart of the Amazon
Researchers describe a new species of titi monkey in a study released last week.
Community conservation increases endangered monkey population in Peru
An adult male yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) in northeastern Peru. Photo credit: Sam Shanee. Community conservation projects — initiatives that actively involve local people in conservation efforts — have gained increasing attention in recent years. Yet few studies have examined their success in protecting natural resources. A recent study published in Tropical Conservation Science, […]
Videos reveal rare birds, wild monkeys, and jaguar family in oil-exploited park
Sloth on all fours seeking salt. Photo courtesy of camera trap video compilation from Tiputini Biodiversity Station. A compilation of new camera trap videos from Yasuni National Park shows off rarely seen species like the rufous-vented ground cuckoo (Neomorphus geoffroyi) and the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis) as well as odd behavior, like sloths licking salt […]
Expedition in the Congo rediscovers lost primate
Young primatologist takes first photo ever of Bouvier’s red colobus Detail from the world’s first photo of Bouvier’s red colobus (Piliocolobus bouvieri) taken early March 2015 in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park in the Republic of Congo. The photo shows an adult female with offspring. Photo by: Lieven Devreese. The last time there was a sighting […]
Newly described monkey species found in threatened Amazon forest
A pair of Milton’s titi monkeys (Callicebus miltoni). Photo by credit Adriano Gambarini. In 2011, Julio César Dalponte noticed a peculiar looking titi monkey on the bank of the Roosevelt River in Mato Grasso, Brazil. Titi monkeys, genus Callicebus, are common throughout South America, but this one had a flaming orange tail, light gray forehead […]
One of Brazil’s rarest primates still holds out in single patch of rainforest
Vanzolini’s squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis), with its distinctive black cap. Photo Credit: Arkive. Walking through the Amazon rainforest for the first time is an overwhelming experience, and not in an entirely predictable way. With its incredible biodiversity, several orders of magnitude higher than forests in temperate zones, you can be forgiven for expecting to be […]
New calendar celebrates primates and raises money for their survival
An interview with Corrin LaCombe, President of Primate Connections Cover of the 2015 Primate Connections Calendar. Humans, or Homo sapiens sapiens, are really just upright apes with big brains. We may have traded actual jungles for gleaming concrete and steel ones, but we are still primates, merely one member of an order consisting of sixteen […]
Local people are not the enemy: real conservation from the frontlines
Saving one of the world’s most endangered primates means re-thinking conservation When Noga Shanee and her colleagues first arrived in Northeastern Peru on a research trip to study the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), she was shocked by what she observed. “We found a dire situation of almost total abandonment. Deforestation, hunting, and wildlife trafficking […]
Conservationists use social media to take on Peru’s booming illegal wildlife trade
The illegal wildlife trade has long been ignored in Peru, but changes are afoot Young bear’s feet confiscated from the witchcraft market. Photo credit by Noga Shanee/NPC Illegal wildlife trafficking is thriving in Peru. But a Peruvian organization is now using a public campaign, via social media and press releases, to track and rescue illegally […]
Scientists uncover five new species of ‘toupee’ monkeys in the Amazon
The aptly named monk saki monkey in Colombia (Pithecia monachus). A new review uncovers five new species in this largely-mysterious primate group. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. While saki monkeys may be characterized by floppy mops of hair that resemble the worst of human toupees, these acrobatic, tree-dwelling primates are essential for dispersing seeds across […]
25 primate pictures for World Primate Day
Coquerel’s Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) September 1 is World Primate Day, a designation intended to raise awareness about apes, monkeys, and prosimians like lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers. Many non-human primates are threatened by habitat loss, the pet trade, and hunting. There are more than 440 species of primate worldwide, the majority of which live in the […]
Setting the stage: theater troupe revives tradition to promote conservation in DRC
Art-form helping establish new park by acting as communication bridge between conservationists, local people Two years ago, environmental artist Roger Peet set off to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to support the new Lomami National Park with bandanas that he designed. This time, Peet is back in Congo to carry out a conservation theater […]
Monkeys use field scientists as human shields against predators
New research shows that some monkeys use humans as shields against becoming a tasty meal for a leopard in South Africa. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. If you’re monkey—say a samango monkey in South Africa—probably the last thing you want is to be torn apart and eaten by a leopard or a caracal. In fact, […]
Broken promises no more? Signs Sabah may finally uphold commitment on wildlife corridors
Five years after landmark agreement in Sabah, government shows signs of moving forward on wildlife corridors The Kinabatangan River winds through rainforest and palm oil plantations in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo. Photo by: Axri Sawang/HUTAN. Five years ago an unlikely meeting was held in the Malaysian state of Sabah to discuss how […]
Camera trap captures first ever video of rarely-seen bird in the Amazon…and much more
- Nocturnal curassow filmed in the wild for the first time: A camera trap program in Ecuador’s embattled Yasuni National Program has struck gold, taking what researchers believe is the first ever film of a wild nocturnal curassow.
- The only member of the genus, Nothocrax, the nocturnal curassow is the smallest curassow, a group of birds in the Cracidae family and distantly related to mound-building birds in Australasia.
- The nocturnal curassow is known for its booming singing at night.
Connecting forests, saving species: conservation group plans extensive wildlife corridor in Panama
Soon, hard rains will hit the steep hillsides of the Azuero Peninsula in Panama, sluicing soil into the rivers and out to the sea. Centuries of slash and burn agriculture have left fewer trees to stand against the annual deluge of water during the rainy season. The erosion makes it harder for ranchers to grow […]
Not unique to humans: marmoset shows compassion for dying mate (VIDEO)
For the first time, researchers have observed an adult marmoset comforting a dying adult family member, behavior that was previously thought to be unique only to humans and chimpanzees. Researchers observed this behavior between a mated pair of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in Brazil, and describe the event in a paper and video published in […]
Small monkeys take over when big primates have been hunted out in the Amazon
The successful end of a monkey hunt by an indigenous tribe in Suriname results in a howler monkey for dinner. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The barbecued leg of a spider monkey might not be your idea of a sumptuous dinner, but to the Matsés or one of the fifteen tribes in voluntary isolation in […]
Will yellow fever drive brown howler monkeys to extinction in Argentina?
The brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamitans) is listed as Critically Endangered in Argentina, where a small number persist in the northeastern portion of the country. Although habitat loss and other human impacts have contributed to the populations’ decline, a new report published in mongabay.com’s
Over 9,000 primates killed for single bushmeat market in West Africa every year
Over the past 25 years, West Africa’s primates have been put at risk due to an escalating bushmeat trade compounded with forest loss from expanding human populations. In fact, many endemic primates in the Upper Guinea forests of Liberia and Ivory Coast have been pushed to the verge of extinction. To better understand what’s happening, […]
Borneo monkeys lose a tenth of their habitat in a decade
Red Leaf-monkey (Presbytis rubicunda) in Sabah, Malaysia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Four species of langurs monkeys that are endemic to Borneo lost more than a tenth of their habitat in just ten years, finds a study published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation. The study, conducted by David A. Ehlers Smith of Oxford Brookes […]
Canopy crusade: world’s highest network of camera traps keeps an eye on animals impacted by gas project
Oil, gas, timber, gold: the Amazon rainforest is rich in resources, and their exploitation is booming. As resource extraction increases, so does the development of access roads and pipelines. These carve their way through previously intact forest, thereby interrupting the myriad pathways of the species that live there. For species that depend on the rainforest […]
Kids’ stories and new stoves protect the golden snub-nosed monkey in China
Puppet shows, posters and children’s activities that draw from local traditions are helping to save an endangered monkey in China. The activities, which encourage villagers—children and adults alike—to protect their forests and adopt fuel-efficient cooking stoves, have worked, according to a report published in Conservation Evidence. Local Chinese researchers, supported by the U.S.-based conservation organization […]
Like humans, marmosets are polite communicators
Common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) have been described as having human-like conversations according to a team of researchers from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Native to Brazil, marmosets are highly social animals, using simple vocalizations in a multitude of situations: during courtship, keeping groups together and defending themselves. They also, according to the study published in […]
New prioritization for Brazil’s threatened mammals pushes little known primates and rodents to the top
Scientists have applied a species prioritization scheme to Brazil’s diverse mammals to deduce which species should become the focus of conservation efforts over the next few years in a new paper published in mongabay.com’s open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science. Rather than solely relying on the risk of extinction to prioritize species, the scheme – originally […]
Forgotten species: the nearly extinct primate that can be shot on sight
Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and rare species have received little attention from the media, conservation groups, and the public. This series is an attempt to give these ‘forgotten species‘ some […]
Scientists catch boa constrictor eating a howler monkey (photos)
In a world first, scientists have captured images and video of a boa constrictor attacking and devouring whole a femle howler monkey, one of the largest new world primates weighing in at around 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds). The rare predation event was recorded in a tiny forest fragment (2.5 hectares) in the Brazilian state of […]
Safeguarding nine priority areas could protect all of Tanzania’s primates
Researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recently developed a list of “Priority Primate Areas” to save Tanzania’s many primate species from extinction. A hub of unique and endangered primates, Tanzania is widely considered to be the most important mainland country for primate diversity in Africa. Approximately a third of the 27 primate species […]
Endangered Chinese monkey population recovering
The number of black snub-nosed monkeys in southwestern China has increased by more than 50 percent since the 1990’s due to conservation efforts, reports Chinese state media. Yunnan Golden Monkey. Photo by Long Yongcheng / The Nature Conservancy A survey launched last month in the high elevation forests of China’s Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous […]
Stand up paddleboarding in the Amazon for conservation
This week an international team is setting off on a unique journey, aiming to be the first to descend the Amazon River using inflatable Stand Up Paddle boards. The group, led by Dr. Mika Peck, a conservation biologist from the University of Sussex with years of work in Ecuador and Colombia, includes Brazilian and Colombian […]
New global network bridges gap for primate conservation educators
- Drawing from her personal experience as a primate educator and the challenges she saw others facing, Amy Clanin envisioned a network that would advance the field of primate conservation education by addressing three needs of educators: connections, resources, and services.
- It was this vision that led her to create the Primate Education Network (PEN).
- PEN is at the forefront of primate conservation education, providing a community and collaboration platform for primate educators.
Endangered primates and cats may be hiding out in swamps and mangrove forests
What happens to animals when their forest is cut down? If they can, they migrate to different forests. But in an age when forests are falling far and fast, many species may have to shift to entirely different environments. A new paper in Folia Primatologica theorizes that some 60 primate species and 20 wild cat […]
Drill baby drill! The fate of African biodiversity and the monkey you’ve never heard of
Equatorial Guinea is not a country that stands very large in the American consciousness. In fact most Americans think you mean Papua New Guinea when you mention it or are simply baffled. When I left for Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, I also knew almost nothing about the island, the nation, or the Bioko drills […]
Conservation without supervision: Peruvian community group creates and patrols its own protected area
“Rural dwellers are not passive respondents to external conservation agents but are active proponents and executers of their own conservation initiatives.”—Noga Shanee, Projects Director for Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC), in an interview with mongabay.com. When we think of conservation areas, many of us think of iconic National Parks overseen by uniformed government employees or wilderness […]
Peruvian night monkey threatened by vanishing forests, lost corridors
Adult Peruvian night monkey. Photo by: Jean Paul Perret/NPC. The Peruvian night monkey (Aotus miconax) is one of the world’s least known primates, having never been studied in the wild–until now. Found only in the cloud forests of northern Peru, a group of scientists with Neotropical Primate Conservation and the National University of Mayor San […]
Warlords, sorcery, and wildlife: an environmental artist ventures into the Congo
Roger Peet (in blue shirt) posing with Forest Rangers. Photo courtesy of Roger Peet. Last year, Roger Peet, an American artist, traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to visit one of the world’s most remote and wild forests. Peet spent three months in a region that is largely unknown to the outside world, […]
Endangered muriqui monkeys in Brazil full of surprises
Apparent recovery of endangered muriqui monkeys in Brazil may not tell the whole story On paper, the northern muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) look like a conservation comeback story. Three decades ago, only 60 of the gentle, tree-dwelling primates lived in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest along the eastern coast of Brazil. Now there are more […]
The world’s 25 most endangered primates: nearly a quarter in Madagascar
A coalition of conservation groups released the biannual Top 25 Primates list today, including nine species not appearing on the 2010 list, at the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India. Madagascar tops the list as home to the most threatened primates, including six on the list. Following Madagascar, Vietnam contains five, Indonesia […]
Photos: new mammal menagerie uncovered in remote Peruvian cloud forest
Possible new species of night monkey in the Aotus genus. Photo by: Alexander Pari. Every year scientists describe around 18,000 new species, but mammals make up less than half a percent of those. Yet mammal surprises remain: deep in the remote Peruvian Andes, scientists have made an incredible discovery: a rich cloud forest and alpine […]
Mr. Darcy and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl: monkeys display distinct personality types
A gray-footed chacma baboon (Papio ursinus griseipes) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Remember the ‘man with no name’ played by Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars, Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, or the bubbly cute girl in every romantic comedy from Legally Blonde to Breakfast at Tiffany’s? […]
Method to estimate primate abundance falls short
Counting wildlife may sound straight-forward, but achieving accurate estimates has plagued scientists for centuries, especially in difficult and dense environments like rainforest. Recently, one method to estimate leaf-eating primates was to look at leaf quality in a particular habitat, particularly the ratio of protein to fiber in leaves. However, a new study in mongabay.com’s open […]
Remarkable new monkey discovered in remote Congo rainforest
Close up of new species: lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis). This is a captive adult male. Photo courtesy of Hart et al. In a massive, wildlife-rich, and largely unexplored rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), researchers have made an astounding discovery: a new monkey species, known to locals as the ‘lesula’. The new primate, […]
Photos: camera traps capture wildlife bonanza in Borneo forest corridor
The Bornean elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), a prospective subspecies of the Asian elephant, is the world’s smallest. Photo by: Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC). Camera traps placed in a corridor connecting two forest fragments have revealed (in stunning visuals) the importance of such linkages for Borneo’s imperiled mammals and […]
First pictures of newly discovered monkey in China published
Male Rhinopithecus strykeri snub-nosed monkey. Photo by Liu Pu Researchers have published the first evidence that a recently discovered monkey ranges into China, releasing pictures of the Rhinopithecus strykeri snub-nosed monkey in its natural habitat in Yunnan province. The photos are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Primatology. Rhinopithecus strykeri was […]
Critically Endangered capuchins discovered in four new locations
The Ecuadorian capuchin, a Critically Endangered subspecies of the white-fronted capuchin (Cebus albifrons), has been discovered in four new locations according to a new study in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Science. Found only in Ecuador and northern Peru, the scientists say the monkey may be unique enough to warrant consideration as a distinct […]
Scientific expedition to survey species in China’s Bigfoot territory
The entrance to Shennongjia Nature Reserve. This month, nearly 40 scientists will enter a wild and remote region of western China, reports China’s state media Xinhua. Spending several weeks in Shennongjia Nature Reserve, the researchers hope to study rare species like the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), which is listed as Endangered by the IUCN […]
96 percent of the world’s species remain unevaluated by the Red List
The IUCN Red List releases its 2012 update, adding 247 species to its threatened categories. The king cobra has been evaluated by the IUCN Red List for the first time and listed as Vulnerable. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Nearly 250 species have been added to the threatened categories—i.e. Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered—in this […]
Saving Indonesia’s monkey with a heart-shaped bottom
Social ties are incredibly important for all primate species, forming close affiliations for support. Photo © Andew Walmsley Wildlife Photography North Sulawesi is one of the world’s most beautiful places. Verdant forests and stunning coral reefs, combined with high levels of species endemism, make it a top biodiversity hotspot. But pressure on the region’s natural […]
Cute animal pictures of the day: silvery marmosets run free in zoo
Silvery marmoset. Photo courtesy of ZSL. The Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Whipsnade Zoo is allowing its seven silvery marmosets (Mico argentatus) to roam the 600 acre facility freely. “It’s a whole new world for them—they are free to go wherever they like and are enjoying themselves foraging,” senior keeper, Steve Perry, said in a […]
New population of Myanmar snub-nosed monkey discovered in China
Scientists in China have located a second population of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri), a primate that was only first discovered two years ago in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Long Yongcheng, scientist with the Nature Conservancy in China, told the China Daily that his team have discovered 50-100 Myanmar snub-nosed monkeys in the […]
Noel Rowe: all the world’s primates “in one place”
Gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) in Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Spanning the gamut from mouse lemurs to mountain gorillas, All The World’s Primates is a comprehensive database of primate species. Founded in 2004 by Noel Rowe and Marc Myers and designed primarily to aid scientists and college students in primatology research, ATWP is […]
Beyond Bigfoot: the science of cryptozoology
- Anyone who doubts cryptozoology, which in Greek means the “study of hidden animals,” should remember the many lessons of the past 110 years:
- the mountain gorilla (discovered in 1902), the colossal squid (discovered in 1925, but a full specimen not caught until 1981), and the saola (discovered in 1992) to name a few.
- Every year, almost 20,000 new species are described by the world’s scientists, and a new book by Dr. Karl Shuker highlights some of the most incredible and notable new animals uncovered during the past century.
Invasive primates threaten Atlantic Forest natives
Scientists have called for the removal of eight invasive primates from Brazil’s imperiled Atlantic Forest in a new study published in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Society (TCS). The researchers fear that the eight alien monkeys could hurt other species due to increased competition, predation, and possible disease. “The problem of introduced primate species […]
Solitary male monkeys cause crop damage in Uganda
Solitary male red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) cause significant damage to cocoa crops in Uganda, according to a new study in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Society (TCS). Researchers examined crop raiding by social groups of red-tailed monkeys and lone males, only to discover that solitary males caused significantly more damage to cocoa crops than […]
Scientists say massive palm oil plantation will “cut the heart out” of Cameroon’s rainforest
Aerial photographs of Talangaye oil palm nursery in Nguti subdivision of Herakles Farms planned oil palm plantation. Photographs taken in February 2012. Photographer wishes to remain anonymous. Eleven top scientists have slammed a proposed palm oil plantation in a Cameroonian rainforest surrounded by five protected areas. In an open letter, the researchers allege that Herakles […]
Cute animal photo of the day: twin cottontop tamarins born in London Zoo
Newborn twin cottontop tamarins clinging to their parent’s back. Photo courtesy of ZSL. Twin cottontop tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) were born in the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) zoo in London this month. Mother Sabi gave birth to the pair after five months. Currently the twins are only five centimeters tall (two inches) tall. Tamarins, tiny […]
Picture of the Day, hewan yang kurang dikenal: Kedih
Kedih di Sumatera. Foto oleh: Rhett A. Butler. Dengan warna bulu yang jelas dan ekspresi tenang terkadang nyaris melankolis, kedih (Presbytis thomasi) adalah salah satu primata Asia yang kurang dikenal. Kedih hanya ditemukan di pulau Sumatera, Indonesia. Monyet ini menjelajahi hutan mencari buah dan bunga, dan kadangkala juga makan siput, jamur, serta batang kelapa. Spesies […]
Photo of the Day: Critically Endangered brown spider monkey discovered in park
A brown-spider monkey in Selva de Florencia National Park. Photo courtesy of WCS. Researchers with The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Colombia’s National Parks Unit have located at least two individuals of brown-spider monkey (Ateles hybridus) in Colombia’s Selva de Florencia National Park. The discovery is important because its the only known population of this […]
Feared extinct, obscure monkey rediscovered in Borneo
Family group of Miller’s grizzled langur in Wehea Forest. Photo by: Eric Fell. A significant population of the rarely seen, little-known Miller’s grizzled langurs (Presbytis hosei canicrus) has been discovered in Indonesian Borneo according to a new paper published in the American Journal of Primatology. Feared extinct by some and dubbed one of the world’s […]
Camera traps snap first ever photo of Myanmar snub-nosed monkey
Close-up from world’s first photo of a living Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. Photo by: FFI/BANCA/PRCF. In 2010 researchers described a new species of primate that reportedly sneezes when it rains. Unfortunately, the new species was only known from a carcass killed by a local hunter. Now, however, remote camera traps have taken the first ever photo […]
Photo essay: Lion-tailed macaques of India’s Western Ghats rainforest
Rainforest of India’s Western Ghats. All photos by Kalyan Varma. The rainforests of Western Ghats are home to some of the most wonderful creatures which are found only in these forests and no where else on the earth The Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus is the symbol of this endemic diversity of this biodiversity hotspot. Less […]
Locals key to saving primate-rich wetlands in Cote D’Ivoire
One of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates: the roloway monkey (Cercopithecus diana roloway) photographed in the Munich Zoo. Saved from being converted into a vast palm oil plantation by PALM-CI in 2009, the Ehy Tanoé wetlands and forest in the Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is home to three gravely endangered primates and as […]
Wildlife official: palm oil plantations behind decline in proboscis monkeys
Young proboscis monkey. Photo courtesy of Rudi Delvaux/Danau Girang Field Center (DGFC)/Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD). The practice of palm oil plantations planting along rivers is leading to a decline in proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo, says the director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, Laurentius Ambu. Proboscis monkeys, known […]
Picture of the day: Baby monkey clutching a teddy bear
Baby Francois langur at ZSL A three-week-old Francois langur monkey that was rejected by its mother is now in the care of a zookeeper at the London Zoo, says the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The endangered newborn, which measures a mere four inches in length, is now out of intensive care and is being […]
Little-known animal picture of the day: Thomas’s leaf monkey
Thomas’s leaf monkey in Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. With unmistakable coloring and a philosophical, at times almost melancholy expression, the Thomas’s leaf monkey (Presbytis thomasi) is one of Asia’s little-known primates. Thomas’s leaf monkey (also known as Thomas’s langur) is found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The monkeys roam forests […]
Cute animal picture of the day: ginger-haired baby monkey
Baby Francois langur looking at the world at the London zoo. Photo courtesy of ZSL. One of the world’s most endangered primates recently gave birth to an orange-haired baby at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Zoo in London. It’s the mother Francois langur (Trachypithecus francoisi)’s first birth. The fire-orange hair of the baby is […]
Cute animal picture of the day: baby Bolivian gray titi monkey
A four-month old baby Bolivian gray titi monkey hangs from its mother at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo. Photo by: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS. The Bolivian gray titi monkey (Callicebus donacophilus) is found in a small area of the Amazon in Bolivia and Brazil. They are also one of a few monkey species […]
Photo: new titi monkey discovered in Amazon area under siege
New titi monkey discovered in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo © Júlio Dalponte. A new species of titi monkey has been discovered in the Brazilian Amazon. Found during a 2010 December expedition, this is the second new titi monkey discovered in the Amazon in three years. In 2008 another new titi, dubbed the Caquetá titi, was […]
Saving (and studying) one of Nigeria’s last montane forests
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The Nigerian Montane Forest Project’s field station set in the Ngel Nyaki Forest. Photo by: Pierre-Michel Forget. Between 2000 and 2010, Nigeria lost nearly a third (31 percent) of its forest cover, while its primary forests suffered even worse: in just five years (2000 to 2005) over half of the nation’s primary forests were destroyed, […]
Pictures: Researchers to track proboscis monkey in Borneo by satellite
Proboscis monkey male in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary captured by researches. After tranquilisation, the animal is given a full medical check by Dr Senthilvel Nathan and Dr Diana Ramirez from the Wildlife Rescue Unit. Photo courtesy of the Sabah Wildlife Department. Researchers with the Sabah Wildlife Department and Danau Girang Field Center in Malaysia […]
Over 80 percent of urban Congolese eat bushmeat
Bushmeat is one of the major threats to wildlife in parts of Africa: large and medium-sized animals are vanishing from regions in a trend dubbed by biologists the ’empty forest syndrome’. A number of popularly consumed species are also threatened with global extinction. A new study in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Science surveyed […]
FSC to continue allowing baboon killing on sustainably-certified plantations
Infant Chacma baboon in Botswana. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Shooting baboons will continue in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified plantations. After examining a complaint by the NGO GeaSphere against South African plantations for trapping and shooting hundreds of baboons, the FSC has announced it will not place a moratorium on baboon-killing in its sustainably-certified plantations. “The […]
Ahead of meeting, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) loses another supporter
The forest organization, FERN, has pulled its support from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), reports FSC-Watch. FERN has quit the increasingly troubled organization due to FSC pursuing carbon credits through forestry. The FSC loses FERN just weeks before its 6th General Assembly, in which FSC partners—including private corporations and some environmental groups—will meet to debate […]
Critically endangered capuchins make tools to gather termites
Less than 200 blond capuchins (Cebus falvius) survive in the highly-fragmented habitat of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. But this tiny group of monkeys, only rediscovered in 2006, is surprising scientists with its adept tool-using abilities. Displaying similar behavior to that which made the chimpanzees of Gombe famous worldwide, the blond capuchins modify sticks to gather termites […]
Complaint lodged at FSC for plantations killing baboons
The African environmental group, GeaSphere, has lodged a complaint with the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) for certifying tree plantations as sustainable that are culling baboons in South Africa, as first reported by FSC-Watch. The primates are trapped with bait and then shot. According to the complaint, “unofficial numbers from reliable sources state that more than […]
Bushmeat trade pushing species to the edge in Tanzania
Udzungwa red colobus. Photo: (c) Photo by Thomas Struhsaker. Hunters are decimating species in the Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, a part of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Southern Tanzania, according to a new report compiled by international and Tanzanian conservationists. Incorporating three research projects, the report finds that bushmeat hunting in conjunction with forest degradation […]
New population of Critically Endangered monkey discovered
Classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, listed among the Top 25 Most Endangered primates in the world, and rated number 71 on the EDGE’s list of world’s most endangered and unique mammals, the yellow-tailed woolly monkey needed some good news—and this week it got it. The conservation organization, Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC), […]
Undergrads in the Amazon: American students witness beauty and crisis in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador
Although most Americans have likely seen photos and videos of the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, they will probably never see it face-to-face. For many, the Amazon seems incredibly remote: it is a dim, mysterious place, a jungle surfeit in adventure and beauty—but not a place to take a family vacation or spend a honeymoon. […]
Picture: new monkey discovered in Myanmar
New primate is on the edge of extinction. With no photos yet of a living Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, this image was reconstructed using Photoshop, based on a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey and the carcass of the newly discovered species, the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey. Image by: Dr. Thomas Geissmann. Hunters’ reports have led scientists to discover a […]
Life shocker: new species discovered every three days in the Amazon
A look back at species discovered over the last decade in the Amazon. A new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) confirms the Amazon rainforest, even as it is shrinking due to deforestation, remains among the world’s most surprising places. According to the report, Amazon Alive, over the past decade (1999-2009) researchers […]
Kera Menakjubkan Ditemukan di Amazon Kolombia
Sementara Amazon dihabisi pelan-pelan dari segala sisi oleh penebangan, pertanian, jalanan, peternakan, pertambangan, eksplorasi gas dan minyak, pengumuman spesies kera baru hari ini membuktikan bahwa hutan hujan tropis terbesar dunia masih memiliki banyak kejutan untuk dimunculkan. Ilmuwan dari National University of Colombia dan didukung oleh Conservation International (CI) dalam jurnal Primate Conservation telah mengumumkan penemuan […]
Stunning monkey discovered in the Colombian Amazon
While the Amazon is being whittled away on all sides by logging, agriculture, roads, cattle ranching, mining, oil and gas exploration, today’s announcement of a new monkey species proves that the world’s greatest tropical rainforest still has many surprises to reveal. Scientists with the National University of Colombia and support from Conservation International (CI) have […]
Hunting threatens the other Amazon: where harpy eagles are common and jaguars easy to spot, an interview with Paul Rosolie
If you have been fortunate enough to visit the Amazon or any other great rainforest, you’ve probably been wowed by the multitude and diversity of life. However, you also likely quickly realized that the deep jungle is not quite what you may have imagined when you were a child: you don’t watch as jaguars wrestle […]
Scientists condemn current development plan in Kalimantan
Scientists with the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) have released a resolution opposing the current development plan for a road and bridge crossing Balikpapan Bay in the Indonesian state of Kalimantan. The resolution states that the plan threatens not only the fragile ecosystems within the bay, but of the nearby mangroves as well […]
With ‘psychological cunning’ wild cat lures monkeys by mimicking their babies’ calls
It sounds like something out of a fairy-tale: the big bad predator lures its gullible prey by mimicking a loved one: ‘why grandma, what big teeth you have!’ But in this case it’s the shocking strategy of one little-known jungle feline. In 2005 researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) were watching a group of […]
Forest loss occurring around Kibale National Park in Uganda
A new study in Tropical Conservation Science finds that Kibale National Park in Uganda has retained its tropical forest despite pressures of a dense human population and large-scale clearing activities just beyond the border of the park. Home to twelve primate species, including Chimpanzees, the park is known as a safe-haven for African primates. Although […]
Sungai kaya margasatwa terancam akibat pengerukan pasir di Borneo
Sungai Kinabatangan di kota Sabah Malaysia merupakan rumah dari kekayaan luar biasa spesies, termasuk orangutan, bekantan, dan populasi dari gajah terkecil di dunia, gajah kerdil Borneo. Meski politisi lokal telah menyatakan beberapa kali bahwa ekologi sungai akan dilindungi, penduduk melaporkan beberapa pekerjaan pengerukan tanah yang seharusnya dilarang di sungai. Pengerukan dapat berpengaruh pada aliran sungai, […]
Wildlife-rich river threatened by sand-dredging in Borneo
The Kinabatangan River in Malaysian state of Sabah is home to a fabulous wealth of species, including orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and a sizeable population of the world’s smallest elephant, the Borneo pygmy elephant. While local politicians have stated numerous times that the ecology of the river will be protected, locals are reporting a number of […]
Long-distance seed dispersal and hunting, an interview with Kimberly Holbrook
The fourth in an interview series with participants in the 5th Frugivore and Seed Dispersal International Symposium. Scientists are just beginning to uncover the complex relationship between healthy biodiverse tropical forests and seed dispersers—species that spread seeds from a parent tree to other parts of the forest including birds, rodents, primates, and even elephants. By […]
When it comes to Yellow Fever, conserving howler monkeys saves lives
Abundant and diverse wildlife help people in many ways: for example bees pollinate plants, birds and mammals disperse seeds, bats control pest populations, and both plants and animals have produced life-saving medicines and technological advances. But how could howler monkeys save people from a Yellow Fever outbreak? A new study in the open-access journal Tropical […]
More research and conservation efforts needed to save Colombia’s monkeys
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Approximately thirty monkey species inhabit the tropical forests of Colombia with at least five found no-where else in the world. A new review appearing the open access journal Tropical Conservation Science of Colombia’s primates finds that a number of these species, including some greatly endangered species, have been neglected by scientists. The researchers looked at […]
Finding forest for the endangered golden-headed lion tamarin
Brazil’s golden-headed lion tamarin is a small primate with a black body and a bright mane of gold and orange. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) survives in only a single protected reserve in the largely degraded Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Otherwise its habitat lies in unprotected […]
Nestle fiasco continues: Indonesian oil palm planters threaten boycott too
Candy and food giant Nestle is finding itself between a rock and a hard place. The online campaign against Nestle continues: today protesters once again posted thousands of negative messages on the company’s Facebook page, most demanding that Nestle cut out palm oil linked to deforestation from its products. At the same time, a new […]
Where two worlds collide: visiting Tabin Wildlife Reserve
The vehicle stopped on the way into Tabin Wildlife Reserve as a troop of pig-tailed macaques began making their way across the road. In a flash a domestic dog, which may or may not have been ‘ownerless’, ambushed the group. Chaos erupted as the big predator fell upon the community. As quickly as it began […]
Humans push half of the world’s primates toward extinction, lemurs in particular trouble
Experts release list of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates. Of the known 634 primate species in the world 48 percent are currently threatened with extinction, making mankind’s closes relatives one of the most endangered animal groups in the world. In order to bring awareness to the desperate state of primates, a new report […]
Birder captures first footage ever of long whiskered owlet, one of the world’s rarest birds
It was any birders dream come true: not only to see one of the world’s rarest birds, but to discover a new unknown population. Israeli birder, Shachar Alterman, was surveying birds with the UK organization Neotropical Primate Conservation in Peruvian cloud forest when he heard and then saw the long whiskered owlet. “At first moment […]
Bridge development in Kalimantan threatens rainforest, mangroves, and coral reef
Balikpapan Bay in East Kalimantan is home to an incredible variety of ecosystems: in the shallow bay waters endangered dugong feed on sea grasses and salt water crocodiles sleep; along the bay proboscis monkeys leap among mangroves thirty meters tall and Irrawaddy dolphins roam; beyond the mangroves lies the Sungai Wain Protection forest; here, the […]
New reserve created in Cambodia with REDD in mind
Cambodia’s Royal Government’s Council of Ministers has declared the creation of the Seima Protection Forest, a 1,100 square miles (2,849 square kilometers) park home to tigers, elephants, and endangered primates. The park’s creation was developed in part by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) “Carbon for Conservation” program, which intends to protect high-biodiversity ecosystems while raising […]
Emotional call for palm oil industry to address environmental problems
During what was at times an emotional speech, Sabah’s Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun, called on the palm oil industry to stop polluting rivers and work with NGOs to save orangutans and other wildlife. He delivered the speech on the first day of an Orangutan Conservation Colloquium held in early October […]
Uganda to open its doors to big game hunters
Uganda, which suffered a 90 percent decline in large mammals during the 70s and 80s, has now lifted a decades-long ban on big game hunting, reports the AFP. The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has stated that it hopes the lifting of the ban will raise additional tourism revenue by targeting wealthy foreigners. But conservationists contest […]
Two of the world’s most endangered (and strangest) primates receive protection from new reserves in China and Vietnam
There are 200 Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys left in the world. The cao vit gibbon, however, is even worse off with only 110 individuals remaining, giving it the dubious honor of being the second most endangered primate in the world (the closely-related Hainan gibbon with only 17 individuals is likely number one). Both of these species—the […]
Working to save the ‘living dead’ in the Atlantic Forest, an interview with Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes
Fourth in a series of interviews with participants at the 2009 Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) conference. The Atlantic Forest may very well be the most imperiled tropical ecosystem in the world: it is estimated that seven percent (or less) of the original forest remains. Lining the coast of Brazil, what is left […]
Examining monkey tools: archaeology expands to include non-human primates
Primate archaeology: old science gets new members Archaeology, the study of ancient cultures and their artifacts, has always been confined to the technology of humans and direct human ancestors. However, a new study recently published in the journal Nature examines the benefits of expanding the field of archaeology to include non-human primates. Until a half-century […]
Largely unexplored rainforest slated to be leveled for gold mining in Colombia
Serrania de San Luca is a rainforest-covered massif rising to 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) in northern Colombia. Despite being little-explored and containing several endangered species, the forest is threatened by industrial gold mining operations, according to the local conservation group ProAves. Already the forest has been reduced to 10 percent of its original 2.5 million […]
Photos: hundreds of new species discovered in Himalayan region, threatened by climate change
Scientists from a variety of organizations have found over 350 new species in the Eastern Himalayas over the past ten years according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The discoveries have included a ‘flying’ frog, the world’s smallest and oldest deer, and a fossil of the world’s oldest gecko frozen in […]
Golden lion tamarins play key role in seed dispersal in Brazil’s Mata Atlantica
Golden lion tamarins play an important role in seed dispersal in Brazil’s Mata Atlantica, report researchers writing in the the journal Tropical Conservation Science. Tracking seeds defecating by tamarians in the highly endangered Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Marina Janzantti Lapenta and Paula Procópio-de-Oliveira found that a quarter of the 88 […]
Cutting back on calories extends lifespan of monkeys, finds study
A 20-year study on rhesus monkeys found that substantially reducing caloric intake slows the aging process and leads to longer lifespans in primates. The research, published in the journal Science, suggests that a reduced-calorie diet could delay the onset of age-related disorders like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy in humans. “We have been […]
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