Make a donation and help save it! We need YOUR support to stop deforestation in the Magdalena valley and educate local people to stop killing mothers with infants. There is so much to be done and so little time remaining.
Tragically, the wonderful Spider monkey is targeted by hunters, who frequently shoot and kill mothers with infants. The infants cling in desperation and shock to their dead mothers as they fall from the canopy and lie on the ground… the hunters then walk over and grab the helpless infants from their dead or dieing mothers. Infant Magdalena Spider monkeys are sold as pets for around US$50.
“True benevolence or compassion, extends through all existence and understands the suffering of any creature capable of feeling.” Joseph Addison. At the bottom, you can find where your donation goes, and how it supports this wonderful cause.
The Magdalena Spider Monkey (Ateles hybridus), one of the largest primates in the America’s, needs your help. It has lost 98% of its habitat and considered the primate at great risk of extinction in the America’s. Its sole secure protected area in Colombia is ProAves’ 7,000 acre El Paujil Bird Reserve in Boyaca and Santander departments.
Locally known as “Choibo” or “Mono Araña”, the Magdalena Spider Monkey is Critically Endangered and endemic to Colombia and western Venezuela. It lives in the tropical forests of the Magdalena Valley, where the species has lost 98% of its habitat due to deforestation and habitat fragmentation, while facing daily threats from hunting that endanger their survival. Their vulnerability is further exposed due to the low density of its population and slow reproduction (8 month pregnancy and one young every 3 years).
The project and the people.
One of the most important aspects of our project is to involve local people. It is critical that we involve and train local people as they hold a major key to finding the solution and saving the spider monkey. Developing community outreach, education, participation and training is vital. We also hope to form leaders in the field of biology and conservation, by supported Colombian students to participate in this project.
Where does my donation go?
We urgently need support to train and educate poor rural communities whose actions directly impact on the Spider Monkey around the El Paujil Bird Reserve and across the Magdalena valley. Our dedicated team of conservationists urgent needs funds for education materials and local transport costs. Through environmental outreach materials, workshops and alternative income opportunities we can make a real impact at helping save this special species for their future, and for our future.
With your help, you will make a real difference to saving the Magdalena Spider Monkey.
To make your donation click aquí
For more information contact Nate Skinner, Director of Development.
E-mail: nskinner@proaves.org
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The Magdalena Spider Monkey Ateles hybridus in his natural habitat – El Paujil Bird Reserve.