Darien Black spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 12055182

For Conservation Foundation of Panamanian Primates (FCPP), is a Panamanian non-profit organization that is initiating the first population counts of non-human Primates of Panama, in order to understanding its population ecology and to serve of base for studies of environmental impact for the benefit of the flora and fauna of our country. Objectives: to study and conserve the non human primates of Panama. The Fundación pro-Conservación de los Primates Panameños (FCPP), was created by Panamanian biologists with the interest to expand an initial population project where we survey non-human primate groups living in fragmented forest on the Azuero Peninsula. The “For-Conservation Project for the Azuero Endemic Primates”, started in April 2001. We obtained our official status in April 2010, and conduct different projects related to primates conservation around Panama, including Chriqui, Darien, Panama Canal Zone, Azuero Peninsula and Coiba Island. The study area was the Chucantí Nature Reserve, Darien Province, Republic of Panama. It is located in the border between Panama Province and Darien Province (08•47´16.5" N, 078•27´01.4"W). The highest point rises 1,259 meters over the sea, with 3 km², and is the highest point of the “Serranía Maje”, which is a mountain chain in the area. Temperature is around 24-27.2 ºC, with a precipitation of 1,940.5 mm/year. The habitat is a Pre-mountain Forest with characteristics of Cloud Forest like the presence of epiphytes and bryophytes. Target species for this project is the Black spider monkey of Darien (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris), which is considered as Critically Endangered Neotropical Primate by UICN and FCPP. The urgency of this study is due to the high pressure of this monkey from poachers and indigenous who use them as protein resources, uncontrolled deforestation at industrial levels, cutting bunches of larges trees almost every day and in every season, selling the land later to establish cattle pastures or private farms. The action is also accompanied by the indiscriminate hunting activities by poachers and in some areas the situation is critical in terms of bushmeat traffic, over all the area near the Colombian border and coasts.