CONSERVATION GRANTEES 2023


Américo Nhanga Walanse SANHÁ

Let's djumbai! Primate ecology and conservation education with children in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau 

Cantanhez National Park (CNP) in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, is a biodiversity-rich agroforest landscape that harbours eight primate species, including the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) and two Endangered colobines (Piliocolobus badius temminckii) and (Colobus polykomos). CNP includes over 25,000 people whose livelihoods largely depend on subsistence agriculture and the forest resources. Although current threats to primate species vary, overhunting and forest conversion to agriculture are key drivers of colobus monkey population decline. Negative interactions over crop foraging also threaten human-primate coexistence, particularly chimpanzees.

My project will consist of the first children’s primate conservation educational initiative in Cantanhez National Park (CNP), Guinea-Bissau. I will use image-based storytelling and drawing sessions to increase children's knowledge about primate ecology and the importance of their conservation. In total, I will reach about 800 participants across villages inside CNP. My project will support the CNP Biodiversity Action Plan's strategies – integrating biodiversity conservation in school education and raising public awareness – and will inform future primate education initiatives across Guinea-Bissau. 

Photo shared with permission.


Mauricio Forlani

Monitoring the survivors: The brown howler monkey in Atlantic Forest fragments in São Paulo, Southeast Brazil

The brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba) is a New World monkey endemic to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and northeaster Argentina. It was listed among the 25 most endangered primates of the world in 2018-2020. Its conservation status is related to habitat loss and to two yellow fever outbreaks, one in 2008-2009 and the other in 2016-2018, which severely affected the population throughout its range; some local extinctions were even reported. In addition, the remaining populations have been being attacked by local communities who, due to misinformation, fear direct transmission of the disease. After the outbreak in 2018, researchers believe that the brown howler monkey population dropped by half in some regions in Brazil, such as in Sao Paulo State.

The aim of this project is to assess the actual population status of howler monkeys in São Paulo. This will be done by caring out a population census and habitat quality assessments in locations where previous data are available, collected prior to the yellow fever outbreaks. Another aim is to raise awareness and knowledge about the species and yellow fever through environmental education activities for the surrounding human communities. Gathering updated data about population trends is the first step to understanding the current state of the howlers’ population. This will enable us to plan and prioritise conservation actions, initially targeting those populations that need immediate intervention for their survival.

Photo shared with permission.


Camille Weksa

Restoring Ontulili River Riparian Corridor for the Primates

Camille Weksa is the co-founder and now Chair of Ontulili Primates Protection (OPP). OPP was established as a community-based organization with the aim of reducing human-wildlife conflict through championing the conservation of primates (including Colobus guereza kikuyuensis and Cercopithecus mitis) along the Ontulili River in Laikipia, Kenya. The organisation is driven primarily by women.

 OPP’s main activities include tree planting, riparian restoration and environmental conservation through a women’s tree nursery group. A Guardian patrol team, also women-led, monitors the primate populations along the Ontulili River bi-weekly and collects primate data on the patrols. This information is then fed back to the OPP Board and the Institute of Primates Research Centre in Nairobi, as well as to other key Government stakeholders including the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya Forest Service, Laikipia Wildlife Forum, Mt Kenya Trust, the National Environmental Management Authority and the Water Resources Users Association.

Project awarded Born Free Foundation funding.

Photos shared with permission.

Sharmini Julita Paramasivam

Using monkey-proof rubbish bin latches to reduce drivers of human-monkey conflict in Malaysia

Approximately 7000 complaints about long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) are received yearly in Malaysia. Access to human food (rubbish bins) is a primary driver for complaints about monkeys in urban communities.
A prototype of a monkey-proof bin latch was designed and tested by the Animal Neighbours Project in 2020, a community-based project led by Dr Sharmini Julita Paramasivam, a veterinarian and senior academic at the University of Surrey. The outcomes revealed the latch to be effective at preventing macaques from accessing bins. Latches were installed in a few areas to test the longevity and effectiveness of this device. Two years on, the residents in the pilot study report that the latches are still working at preventing monkeys from accessing food waste!

In this study, latches will be produced and installed on bins in urban areas across Malaysia with the aim to reduce complaints and empower developers, local government and residents’ associations to implement a strategy locally to reduce drivers before defaulting to the current practice of requesting the animals be removed from the area. This will have a positive impact on the welfare and conservation of long-tailed macaques in these urban areas. 

Project awarded Trentham Monkey Forest funding 

Photos shared with permission.

Lorena Fernández Hidalgo and Sam Shanee

Evaluating the impact of fifteen years of Community Conservation on the Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), Peru. 

The yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) is endemic to the eastern Andes in northern and central Peru and is restricted to montane and premontane forest up to 2,900 m.a.s.l., within the Tropical Andes Hotspot, one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. This species is threatened primarily by habitat loss and hunting, it is considered as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Redlist of threatened species and under Peruvian law, and has been listed amongst the 25 most endangered primates in the world three times. Although it has been the focus of several studies in recent years, it remains one of the least known species and more information is crucial to carry out urgent conservation actions.

Since 2007, Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC) has worked to conserve this species employing ‘Community Conservation’ methods suited to the area where human population densities are high. In 2008-2009 and 2012-2013, NPC carried out density surveys on L. flavicauda at El Toro, Amazonas, recording a ⁓36% population increase. We are going to conduct a third density survey at this site to evaluate the impact of 10 more years of conservation action. This project will provide comparable ‘before and after’ data on the density and abundance of L. flavicauda. Population survey work within this area will not only present comparative estimates of group sizes and densities but will also contribute towards increasing data on L. flavicauda ecology under natural conditions, e.g. from a non-hunted site. Finally, results will provide proper evaluation of our impact and allow for continued implementation of actions using ‘Community Conservation’ methods in this area.

Project awarded Trentham Monkey Forest funding (and then doubled by Conservation Allies)

   

Photos shared with permission.

Alex Duggan and Windi Liani Bukit

Canopy bridges for the community: Implementation and education about canopy bridges for the Critically Endangered Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) in Java, Indonesia

Javan slow lorises are forest dwelling, arboreal primates that are found across tropical, primary and secondary forest environments in Java, Indonesia. Javan slow lorises are highly affected by habitat fragmentation, which separates areas of forest and individuals of a species. One way of dealing with fragmentation and helping conservation efforts for primates is to create wildlife corridors by building artificial bridges and/or developing natural canopy bridges. These can help achieve canopy connectivity so that arboreal primates can move between the fragmented areas of forest, helping to expand their home range and reduce predation. In collaboration with the Little Fireface Project (https://www.nocturama.org/en/welcome-little-fireface-project/), we will continue long-term research of the Javan slow lorises in the village of Cipaganti, Garut District, West Java. We will place and monitor loris bridges, made from irrigation hosepipes, in our study area. Use of the bridges will be monitored by installing camera traps. Alex will lead the monitoring, but will be assisted by local children.

In addition, we will re-implement Liitle Fireface’s education programme (Building Bridges for Slow Loris Conservation: https://www.nocturama.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018BuildingBridgesEducationPackSmallRes.pdf) for children and farmers. This work will be led by Windi. Importantly, material about biodiversity conservation and animal biology will be uploaded to the Indonesian National Curriculum (Merdeka Mengajar), so will be available to teachers across all of Indonesia.

Photos shared with permission.


RESEARCH GRANTEES 2023

Lauren Ember Wolf

Landscape Genetics of red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

The endangered Ashy red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus tephrosceles), is threatened by habitat loss and predation, and the largest and most viable population is in Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda. Understanding threats to this critical population is essential for the species’ conservation. KNP has a history of commercial logging, resulting in areas of the forest that were previously logged to different intensities and old-growth areas that were never commercially logged . The impact of this logging history on red colobus monkey dispersal patterns is unknown.

The proposed study will focus on the Kanyawara area of KNP, characterized by a logging gradient from heavily to lightly logged and old-growth forest that was never commercially logged. By intensively sampling a high density of red colobus monkey groups within this part of the park, we will assess how the resulting forest structures impact dispersal patterns of red colobus monkeys. These dispersal patterns, as drivers of gene flow between groups, are critical to maintaining the health of this important population of the species.



Photos shared with permission. Photo credit: Dr. Krista Milich.


Leslie Annette Paige

Remote Sensing Technology for Detailing Spatial Ecology of Critically Endangered Black-and-White Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia variegata) and Diademed Sifaka (Propithecus diadema)

Among primate range countries, Madagascar is one of the highest conservation concerns because of extensive rates of deforestation and habitat modification, putting its over 100 endemic lemur species at high risk of extinction. To effectively conserve forest dependent lemur populations, forest monitoring and characterization to quantify habitat availability and identify the habitat features that support these lemurs is critical. However, characterizing complex forested habitats has traditionally been a time consuming, expensive, and challenging endeavour. Remote-sensing via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) has the ability to map large areas efficiently and in high definition. In addition to high resolution aerial UAV drone imagery, a LiDAR (light detection and ranging)-mounted drone is cutting edge technology that can penetrate the forest canopy and accurately map the structural characteristics of the canopy, subcanopy, and undergrowth in 3D.

This study proposes to use two drones, a DJI Phantom 4 Pro and a LiDAR, to gain 3D habitat data for Vohibe Forest, Madagascar, in order to detail the habitat needs of two Critically Endangered lemur species, the diademed sifaka (Propithecus diadema) and the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata). Both species have highly overlapping ranges in mid-eastern Madagascar, where much of their habitat has been lost or become highly fragmented. The spatial models generated from this study can have applications beyond the scope of these research questions, providing a basis to model how these species may respond to future habitat loss, climate change and potential forms of anthropogenic disturbance.


Photos shared with permission. Photo credit: Dr. Giovanna Bonadonna.



Lucero Mercedes Hernani Lineros

Do males provide services to females to trade mating opportunities in a cooperative breeding species?

The focus of my investigation will be the cooperative breeding of callitrichid monkeys. I am specifically interested in testing if adult male callitrichids use infant care, deference to the breeding female at feeding sites and predator vigilance as services to trade mating opportunities with the breeding female to increase their fitness. My PhD advisor, Júlio César Bicca-Marques, proposed that these three behaviors form a behavioral complex that males use to show their paternal quality to the breeding female to increase their chances of being chosen as a mating partner. To test this hypothesis, I will compare the time investment in infant care, deference to the breeding female at feeding sites and predator vigilance among group members, and assess if the three behaviors are correlated and form a “behavioral complex” that affects mating opportunities and fitness (number of offspring sired) taking into consideration age and social rank differences among adult males.

As outcomes, I expect to test Bicca-Marques’s hypothesis and to generate baseline data for long-term research on gene flow within a small, closed nonhuman population and the heritability of the behavioral complex through male lineages. My project will also contribute insight on the evolution of Callitrichid cooperative behavior in general and cooperative breeding in particular and stimulate tests of similar hypotheses applied to other cooperative breeding mammals and birds.


Photos shared with permission



CAPTIVE CARE GRANTEES 2023

Dr Jenny Botting representing the Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance (PASA)

The interconnected threats of habitat loss and the wildlife trade have led to thousands of orphaned and traumatized apes in rehabilitation at African sanctuaries. To increase the capacity of sanctuary staff to provide the highly-specialized care that these apes need, PASA’s Primate Care Training program sends experts in ape health, behaviour, care and welfare to provide tailored, hands on training at its member sanctuaries. Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project (FVGP) located in Gabon is a PASA member that cares for 15 gorillas, including multiple individuals with traumatic backgrounds and ensuing behavioural and health issues.

To build the capacity of staff to increase positive welfare in these gorillas, Caroline Griffis, an animal care professional with extensive expertise in ape welfare and behaviour, will work with FVGP staff to implement a methodology for the staff to conduct a behavioural assessment of gorillas being prepared for reintroduction, conduct ongoing evaluation of, and additional training to support, the enrichment program at the sanctuary, conduct welfare assessments, and make tailored recommendations for improving gorilla welfare. This will directly increase the positive welfare of at least 15 gorillas by raising the cappacity and long-term ability of sanctuary staff to provide high-quality care to these rescued primates.

The Primate Society of Great Britain is a registered Charity number 290185 Website Photos: Shannon Farrington, Tim Eppley, & Brogan Mace
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