Undergraduate Honors Thesis

 

A Study of Threatened Juvenile Woolly Monkeys: An Assessment of Natural Rehabilitation of Juvenile Wooly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) on Sumak Allpa Island, Ecuador Public Deposited

https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/vd66w0378
Abstract
  • The woolly monkey, Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii, is considered vulnerable by the IUCN. As anthropogenic land use fragments Amazon rainforest habitats, woolly monkeys are forced into closer proximity to humans. A non-profit foundation in Orellana, Ecuador named Sumak Allpa, has created one of the few woolly monkey rehabilitation programs in the world that focuses on the reintegration of monkeys into their natural habitat after complete rehabilitation. From April 11th to May 2nd, 2016, I investigated the time allocation patterns of a juvenile troop consisting of two male and two female woolly monkeys that had been previously held in captivity. I compared the juvenile woolly monkey troop’s time allocation patterns, diet, and home range size to those of wild woolly monkeys (Di Fiore & Rodman, 2001) to assess the rehabilitation of the juveniles and the effectiveness of Sumak Allpa as a rehabilitation center. This study adds to the large variation in reported time allocation patterns of woolly monkeys and suggests further examination. The juvenile troop’s diet had less variety than wild woolly monkeys; however, Cecropiaceae, Fabaceae, Arecaceae, Myrtaceae, and Moraceae remained the most important families in both wild and Sumak Allpa studies of woolly monkey diet. The juvenile woolly monkeys in this study occupy a small home range size compared to wild woolly monkeys. This study can act as a base for further examination of the variables that most accurately predict the health of woolly monkeys in rehab centers (such as time allocation patterns, diet, and home range size), as well as predict when individuals should be released into the wild.

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  • 2017-01-01
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  • 2020-01-28
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