SPIDER MONKEY R & R (Rehabilitation and Release)

Can You Count the Spider Monkeys?

4/19/2015

Michele feeding raisins to the monkeys.

Can you count the spider monkeys? Hint: Ignore the arms and legs and tails...and look for "coconut heads."
Our six spider monkeys were recently relocated to Macaw Sanctuary El Manantial in Puntarenas in preparation for our return to the United States, and they could not have adapted more wonderfully!!! We visited today and our hearts are at peace.

Rodolfo, the owner of the sanctuary, is a natural with animals. He put our five older spider monkeys in together, which made Chiquito a very happy boy. And then he put our baby, Dorita, in with his two older females...and they both wanted to adopt her. She now clings happily to Lizeth 24 hours a day. Even better? Rodolfo put the three of them in with the other five, and they were instantly a contented troop of eight. The rest of the monkeys even let Lizeth and Dorita eat first...

DORITA and her new surrogate mother LIZETH.

DORITA and her other surrogate mother Machita.

What's next? We're building a larger enclosure for the spider monkeys, and they should move in within a few weeks. I stood at one end today and took a photo of Paul and Rodolfo standing at the other end...soccer/football anyone?

RODOLFO and PAUL at the other end of the new spider monkey enclosure.

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Introducing Dorita to Anita and Pancita...

12/26/2014

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I'd been waiting for Dorita to get adult teeth (which she hasn't yet) before introducing her to some of the other girls, but I convinced myself that the females wouldn't hurt a baby, and we went for it. (Granted, not on Christmas Day in case either the humans or the monkeys needed emergency medical care.)
Pancita, who is probably less than a year old herself, was very feisty. Anita, the matriarch of the troop, treated it as a non-event. Dorita chose not to move or make a sound...

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The Week of the Spider Monkey

8/22/2014

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Two is not a troop, and after two-and-a-half years with just our duo, Chiquito and Lolita, I was getting discouraged. IF the reason we weren't getting spider monkeys was because none were being orphaned it would have been great, but the reality is that there just aren't many left in the wild. The population of spider monkeys in Costa Rica decreased 72% between 1995 and 2007 (Ronald Sanchez, UCR) and now, seven years later, they have been "upgraded" to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, which means they face an extremely high risk of extinction.

So, Paul and I are still in shock over this past week. On Friday the owner of another rehabilitation center brought us Anita, a 5 or 6-year-old female; and Pancita, a ten-month-old female. On Monday MINAET brought us a three-month-old female - tragically, orphaned near the Nicaraguan border when her mother was shot for meat. And on Thursday MINAET confiscated a 1 or 2-year-old female from an unlicensed facility, and we picked her up yesterday afternoon. All of them are the same subspecies as Chiquito and Lolita, Ateles geoffroyi geoffroyi, except for the orphan Dorita, who we believe is Ateles geoffroyi ornatus. Dorita has five fingers on one hand (spider monkeys have four fingers and no thumb), a black tongue, and unusually long golden hair - so we'll have her DNA tested to confirm our suspicions (in which case we will eventually need a male of the same subspecies).
We have a full house now, with a real troop if introductions go well in the next few weeks, and we plan to add a series of exercise corridors as soon as weather permits.

ANITA

PANCITA

JUANITA

DORITA

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Getting Acquainted

8/20/2014

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Pancita (L) and Anita (R) eating grapes.

Our two new girls are sweethearts.
Anita is polite and doesn't make eye contact (which is a social gaffe among monkeys) but immediately hops onto any available lap, with or without food.
Pancita is a bundle of energy and never sits still unless there's food!

Pancita wearing my skirt on her head.

Pancita and Anita are next to Lolita, but the cages haven't been opened into one large enclosure yet, which will be a new experience for Lolita and for us. To be continued...

Red grapes are a special treat.

Pancita spits hers out.

Lolita reaches for a grape.

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The Best Mother's Day Ever!

8/16/2014

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Mother's Day is August 15th in Costa Rica, and I received my best "gifts" ever!

Anita

Pancita

Yesterday the owner of another wildlife rehabilitation center brought us two spider monkeys; Anita, a three or four-year-old female, and Pancita, a ten or twelve-month-old female. (We're just guessing at ages, because you rarely know with orphaned or confiscated wildlife.)

Chiquito and Rodolfo

Chiquito should have been thrilled about adding two females to his troop, but he was much more interested in meeting Rodolfo. Like most male spider monkeys, Chiquito prefers males to females socially. In the wild, the males stay in the natal troop with their father, brothers, and other male relatives; whereas the females "leave home" at sexual maturity.

Anita and Pancita are caged together, as they were at the other center since Pancita arrived about a month ago, and they'll be kept separate from Lolita as they get to know each other. Today we opened the two isolation cages into one large cage, giving them a common chainlink wall with Lolita, and all three girls "helped."

Unlatching the wall divider.

Pancita hustles right out.

Anita quickly follows.

Pancita watches Oscar tie the tree.

Lolita makes a play for the machete.

Anita shows Lolita some teeth.

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Fruit for the Frugivores

5/12/2014

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Paul standing on a step ladder cutting guaba fruit from our trees.

We're lucky to have a number of guaba trees on our property because the spider monkeys (frugivores) like to eat the fruit, and the howler monkeys (foliovores) like to eat the leaves.
Our trees produce a small variety of the fruit, so we also buy BIG guaba at the "feria" or farmer's market when it's in season.

Paul cutting guaba fruit.

The monkeys watching Paul.

Chiquito uses his tail.

Lolita reaches with her arm.

There are many fruits that grow in Costa Rica which North Americans are unfamiliar with. In fact, were it not for trying to give the monkeys as large a variety as possible, I would never have discovered two of my favorites, caimito and sapote. (caimito = star apple and sapote = sapote)

Guaba fruit growing on our trees.

Guaba fruit. The edible part is the white fuzz around the seeds.

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Chiquito is a Passionate Monkey

4/26/2014

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Reaching for Olivier with four limbs and a tail.

Chiquito is passionate about the things he loves, and one of his favorite things is a human... our regent biologist, Olivier.
Chiquito only sees Olivier four times a year, but when he does, it's a very tactile meeting. He hugs Olivier. He grooms Olivier's hair. He sniffs his fingers after touching Olivier's chest, where spider monkeys have a scent gland. He licks the sweat on Oliver's forehead.
At four years of age, Chiquito is too strong and potentially dangerous to interact with Olivier without chain link between them. And were he so inclined, he could do serious damage through the chain link - but the only time he exhibits frustration (by showing his teeth) is when he has to let go.

Sniffing his finger after touching Olivier's chest.

Grooming Olivier's hair.

Licking Olivier's forehead.

It takes two of us to peel Olivier's shirt from Chiquito's hands and feet. Still unwilling to say good-bye, he reaches out with the "long arm of his tail."

Trying to pull Olivier closer.

Offering his tail for a last good-bye.

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Chiquito Still Loves His Blanket

4/12/2014

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Sitting on a tree limb wrapped in his blanket.

Chiquito has always loved having a security blanket. The first few weeks after he arrived he wrapped himself in his blanket and looked sad, as he did the one heart-wrenching time he was sick.
He's a macho four year-old guy now, with large huevos and equally impressive fangs. But he still loves his "binkie."

I found the perfect monkey blanket at Value Village on my last trip to the States - it's plush and has an appliqued monkey on it - and Chiquito has been duly appreciative. He still steals Lolita's blanket (which she never uses), but if he's wrapped up, it's always in HIS blanket.
Here Lolita teases Chiquito, pulling his blanket through the common chainlink wall.

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The Raisin Escapade

10/3/2013

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Heading up to the trees with Lolita.

     Lying in bed last night I realized that we haven't been taking Lolita out of the cage because we no longer trust Chiquito, who at 3 1/2 often exhibits frustration and aggression. Lolita has never been aggressive. She's younger, female, and has a completely different temperament. We trusted her with our 18 month old grandson, and we trust her with the infant howler monkeys. Chiquito? Never.

    Paul wasn't asleep yet, and he had a hard time falling asleep after I suggested it. Even though we were able to successfully take Chiquito into the jungle on a leash when he was younger and then turn him loose to explore, he couldn't be free in our yard - all he wanted to do was break into the house. (The two times he escaped and got inside were disastrous. Short of swinging from the chandelier...only because we don't have one...he left a wide path of destruction.)

Safety on Mom.

A dash for the raisin.

Bipedal.

Fortunately, Lolita was the sweetie she always is. In fact, it was hard to get her off me.
(Photo credit to Paul)

The raisin!

Eating on the run...

Back to Mom.

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The New Cages Are Finished!

8/24/2013

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Viewed from our front door.

Viewed from upper lot. Old cages on left.

Viewed from upper lot. New cages.

      It took months longer than I anticipated, but the carport and cages above it are finally finished (although both new cages still need another climbing tree or two).
     The carport has electricity and water. There's a large slop sink against the wall to Paul's "bodega" or storage shed, and a septic tank under the carport that services the monkey cages and slop sink.
     The cage has four separate areas. When you come up the steps, the door is in the middle and opens into a hallway that's the human cage, with the monkey cages on either side. At the end of that hallway is a door to the transfer area, which has pulley-operated doors to both large cages...that way Paul can move a monkey into the transfer/holding location before he washes their cage. The human and transfer cages are two-thirds the height of the other cages, so Lolita can actually climb and play above them. Chiquito's cage is a rectangle, so he can't hang out over the human or transfer cages.  He's potentially too dangerous as a three-and-a-half year old male to give him, and the long reach of his arms and tail, more than one wall in common with human occupants.
     Come December and the dry season, we'll try to find an older female spider monkey to keep Lolita company, and Chiquito "entertained." The baby howler monkeys might also be ready to spend their afternoons in the isolation cage beside Lolita.

Lolita's cage is on the left.

The human cage is in the middle.

Chiquito's cage is on the right.

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In the jungle with the monkeys.

Michele Gawenka

Jane Goodall has always been my hero, and working with primates an aspiration. Africa wasn't in the cards the summer I turned 16, when my parents offered to send me to volunteer, and there was only one class (in physical anthro-pology) when I wanted to study primatology in college.
Decades later my husband and I retired in Costa Rica, and this is our journey with spider (and howler) monkeys.

Michele Gawenka

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