10

February 2013

GVI Costa Rica
Jalova Research Station Monthly Achievement Feb 2013
Monkey Business

The early morning air breaks with haunting howls, and the forest
is filled with squeaks, chirps, barks and screams as the monkeys
of Tortuguero National Park (TNP) begin to wake up. Apart from
providing endless entertainment by jumping through the tree
tops, socially interacting, or trying to pee or poo on someone (at
which they have fairly accurate aim), these monkeys are key
indicators of the forest health in this region. Three of Costa
Ricas four species of monkeys are residents within TNP, a
protected area along the Caribbean coast. The white-throated
capuchin (Cebus capucinus), mantled howler monkey (Alouatta
palliata) and Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
coexist in harmony due to their slightly different feeding
strategies, and can be found foraging in the same locations. Due
to its endangered status, the Central American spider monkey
has been sighted by MINAE as a species of interest, leading GVI
Jalova to create a pilot study to monitor their distribution and
density in the park area as part of our current Incidentals
project.
The extension to our Incidentals project was
started in September 2012. The study consists of
five line transects along pre-existing trails that
incorporate most of the survey area. Each
transect covers a 1km distance that is surveyed
over the course of approximately one hour.
During this time, if spider monkeys are sighted,
information regarding numbers, age, sex, gender
and location are collected. Since the project
started, 57 surveys have been conducted, and 56
spider monkey observations have resulted from
these surveys. Of the individuals identified 51%
of them have been females, 17% dependent young, 7% independent young, and only 3% males. Over the
course of observation time spider monkeys have been seen on all the trails, but their distribution range has
yet to be determined.
So far the results show that our area of TNP appears to have a healthy population of spider monkeys. The
hope, as data continues to be collected, is that it will become easier to ascertain group sizes of the residents in
the area and their density. In addition to the current study the future goals include comparing the number of
spider monkeys in relation to the white-throated capuchin and mantled howler monkeys, and better
understand the species of their foraging trees along with fluctuations based on food sources. Future

10 February 2013


developments may include looking more closely at the social behaviour of commonly seen spider monkeys.