Copyright © 2007 Shanee, Shanee, Maldonado.
Published by: Portuguese Wildlife Society
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Portugal License

• N. Shanee *
  Noga Shanee MSc, founding director of Neotropical Primate Conservation
• S. Shanee *
  Noga Shanee MSc, founding director of Neotropical Primate Conservation
• A. Maldonado *
  Angela Maldonado MSc, PhD(c), Doctoral researcher at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Director of the Woolly Monkey Project, Colombia, and Etropika, UK.

Abstract

The yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda) is classified as Critically Endangered and is listed by the IUCN Primate Specialist Group as one of the top 25 most endangered primate species in the world. Its distribution is restricted to the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot. Between March and June 2007 we conducted a preliminary survey of O. flavicauda in Amazonas and San Martin states, Peru. We surveyed eleven forest fragments which are known to be part of the distribution range of O. flavicauda and gained information on further seven sites. We also collected secondary data on current habitat threats, local communities’ practices and views of conservation by using semi-structured interviews. Since the last field survey of this species in 1980 the area has undergone high levels of deforestation and many populations of the species now exist in isolated forest patches. Habitat destruction and hunting are still the main threats for O. flavicauda. The main aim of this study was to gather up-to-date information on the actual status and conservation opportunities for O. flavicauda in different areas of San-Martin and Amazonas departments. This information is meant for use in encouraging and assisting future conservation initiatives for this species.

Keywords: flavicauda; Primate Conservation; Critically Endangered; Tropical Andes; Atelidae; San-Martin; Amazonas.

Supplementary files