SPIDER MONKEY R & R (Rehabilitation and Release)
  • HOME
  • THE MONKEY DIARIES
  • OUR CENTER
  • Spider Monkey Sanctuaries
  • The Monkey Videos
  • Spider Monkey Trivia
  • CHIQUITO
  • LOLITA
  • New Page

The Week of the Spider Monkey

8/22/2014

8 Comments

 
     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.
Picture
      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.
Picture
ANITA
Picture
PANCITA
Picture
JUANITA
Picture
DORITA
8 Comments
Jennifer link
8/22/2014 08:04:46 am

Oh my gosh, what an exciting week for you guys!

Reply
Michele
8/22/2014 08:15:09 am

YES, thank you Jennifer!

Reply
Emmie
8/22/2014 11:29:34 am

I am praying you have good luck. This could be really exciting... I could just kiss Dirt a until my lips ran oyt, so sweet!

Reply
Michele
8/22/2014 12:05:01 pm

Thanks, Emmie :-]

Reply
George Lundquist link
8/23/2014 03:47:28 am

WOW, great news for these new babies to have found YOU!!!

Reply
Michele
8/23/2014 04:05:18 am

Thanks, George!

Reply
Debbie Rudd
8/23/2014 08:42:15 am

Wow-when it rains, it pours monkeys!

Reply
Michele
8/23/2014 09:23:46 am

We feel so very lucky, Debbie!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    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. 

    Archives

    April 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    RSS Feed