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Choibo (Ateles hybridus) |
The Brown Spider Monkey or Variegated Spider Monkey (Ateles hybridus, I. Goeffroyi – St. Hilaire, 1829), primate of the family Atelinae is currently ranked in the highest category of threat (CR– Review) (Rodriguez-Mahecha et al, 2006) being among the 25 most endangered primate species in the world (Mittermeier et al, 2004).
Knowing this situation ProAves Foundation, as one of its objectives of protecting important areas for conservation of bird species and other threatened groups and make these areas available to people who want to conduct research within the reserves, facilitated the development of Colombian Primates Project for the Foundation Biodiversa Colombia in the Nature Bird Reserve El Paujil located in the Serrania de Las Quinchas.
The main objective of this project was to provide preliminary data on the ecology and social composition of a group of coffee spider monkeys. For this a study group was habituated and took data on activity patterns, social structure, diet, the action area and habitat use.
The supply of berries was also determined, it was found that the group was comprised of 26 individuals; their diet consisted of 130 trees, 65 species and 27 families. The item most consumed were fruits (93.5%), followed by leaves (5.6%) and flowers (0.4%). Analyses of habitat use suggest that some areas, like the centers of the fragments studied, and certain routes are used more frequently. This seems to partially respond to the size and spatial distribution of tree species included in the diet.
In addition to approximate some aspects of the ecology of this species, which is highly unknown, the results helped to understand how primates respond habitats with a high degree of human intervention (fragmentation, deforestation and hunting).
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Photo with camera trap – El Paujil Reserve |
Since 2010 and with support from the Wildlife Service and U.S. Fish the Foundation has continued to investigate behavioral and ecological aspects of the species in the area like the use of salt traps using camera and continues to engage the community in the processes of research and conservation training workshops and environmental education campaigns.
Diaz Cubillos, LD 2007. Characterization of the diet a group of brown spider monkeys Ateles hybridus hybridus (Atelidae-primate) and evaluation of the floristic diversity of a patch of forest in the Serrania de las Quinchas (Boyacá – Colombia). See summary here.