Trade a major threat to primate survival

Baby spider monkey for sale in Peru. Photo: Sally Kneidel, PhD

Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of primates are traded every year, and the number's been growing linearly for 15 years When I read that news in a recent study by Vincent Nijman of Oxford Brookes University, I was not surprised. Having worked and traveled in Africa, the Amazon, and S.e. Asia, I've seen for myself that legal and illegal trade in primates is rampant. I've communicated with Nijman several times over primate issues; he seems to be one of the most knowledgeable academics alive on the subject of primate trade in S.e. Asia (and maybe elsewhere as well).

Nijman's article ("Primate conservation: measuring and mitigating trade in primates") is the overview article to a new issue of the open-access journal Endangered Species Research. This particular issue is the result of a recent conference and is devoted entirely to primate conservation. In Nijman's introduction, he and co-authors write that the international trade in primates -- for research, pets, meat, etc.-- is one of the biggest threats to primate conservation. Habitat loss and hunting are the main threats to primate survival in the wild, but trade is a leading threat for some species, such as the slow loris and Barbary macaque.

Slow loris for sale in Indonesia. Photo: Sally Kneidel

During the 1990s, numbers of wild-caught and captive-bred primates traded were roughly equal, but afterward captive breeding increased substantially.  By 2005, around 71,000 live primates were traded internationally, 53,000 of them reported as captive-bred. However, some of the captive-breds may have been laundered wild-caught specimens.

Since 1995, China and Mauritius have supplied more than half of all primates traded internationally (31% and 18% respectively).  And guess who is the largest importer of live primates? I'll give you a hint - a country with thriving medical research and a poorly regulated pet trade.  Yep, the US imports the most live primates (26%), with Japan (14%) and China (13%) close behind.

 Saddlebacked tamarins for sale in Peru (I'm looking down on the cage).  Photo: Sally Kneidel, PhD

Although I knew about the trade in live primates, I was shocked to read in Nijman's paper that more than a million dead primates are traded every year. The trade in dead primates and primate parts includes almost 20,000 exported as hunting trophies over the past 30 years.

The dead also include more than 100 primate species used in traditional medicines (based on cultural superstitions).The journal mentioned above contains a paper by Starr et al. documenting the threat posed to two slow loris species in Cambodia from such trade.

Slow loris for sale in Java. Photo: Sally Kneidel

However, the major trade in primates is in those traded domestically for food. A paper by Wright and Priston in this same special issue examines what drives such trade in southwestern Cameroon and concludes that many more primates are sold there for wild meat than are captured for local consumption.

Long-tailed macaque for sale in Indonesia. Photo: Sally Kneidel

Examples of illegally traded primates include long-tailed macaques from mainland S.e. Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam) into China, to supply the booming biomedical trade. A paper in this special issue by Maldonado and co-workers documents the illicit trade of over 4,000 night monkeys (Aotus spp.) each year from Peru and Brazil into Colombia to supply a biomedical research facility.

Baby long-tailed macaque for sale in Jakarta.  Photo: Sally Kneidel

“The above figures are from an analysis of legal trade reported to CITES [the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora], but the true figures are likely to be higher, because of under-reporting and illegal trade,” says Nijman.

As Nijman et al. note, in 2006, trade was listed as a threat to only one of the world’s most threatened primates species, but four years later, trade for meat, medicines and pets is implicated in the decline of nine of these species.

White-handed gibbons in Sumatra. Photo: Sally Kneidel

Other papers in the special issue include one by Chris Shepherd of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia on the illegal primate trade in Indonesia.  He also contributed as a co-author to an article on gibbons in zoos and rescue centers in Indonesia. Chris is an impressively diligent and persistent wildlife-trade researcher and writer for TRAFFIC in S.e. Asia.  He was a big help to me in preparing for my own travels there.

“The illegal primate trade in Asia is decimating populations of some of the region’s most charismatic species: tackling such trade should be regarded as an urgent priority for wildlife enforcement agencies in the region,” said Shepherd.

Other topics covered include effective implementation of CITES; the use of forensics in trade; problems, pitfalls, and successes of rehabilitating and reintroducing confiscated primates; and educational and livelihood strategies to mitigate trade.

Sources:

"Trade threat to primates" on the website of "TRAFFIC: The wildlife trade monitoring network." The article "Trade threat to primates" was written I believe by Richard Thomas of TRAFFIC. Many of the comments from my blog post above were direct quotes from Thomas's summary. (Thank you Richard! And thanks for using the spider-monkey picture I donated to TRAFFIC for your summary!)

To access and/or download the full contents of the Endangered Species Research issue on primates (discussed above), click here.

Some of my previous posts about primates, primate trade, and primate conservation:
We are family: new evidence of our close link to chimps Feb 16, 2011
Is males' attraction to trucks and balls genetically based? Jan 14, 2011
Hunting may threaten orangutans even more than habitat loss Dec 6, 2010

Wildlife trade rivals drug trade in profits September 20, 2010
Laws flaunted: flourishing pet trade threatens orangutans' survival August 23, 2010
My search for a wild orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra August 16, 2010
Orangutans dwindle as Borneo, Sumatra converted to palm-oil plantations August 3, 2010

The great apes are losing ground. March, 2010
The U.S. imports 20,000 primates per year. February, 2010
Baboons are Africa's most widespread primate. Females rule! December 30, 2009
Mama monkeys give in to tantrums....when others are watching. April 23, 2009
Angry chimp reveals a "uniquely human" ability. March 21, 2009

Monkeys and parrots pouring from the jungle. September, 2008
Chimps' short-term memory is better than humans'  April 2, 2008
Chimps share human trait of altruism August 3, 2007

Keywords: primate trade primate survival primate conservation bushmeat pet trade traditional medicine trophies trophy hunting Sumatra slow loris Southeast Asia Jakarta long-tailed macaque tamarins spider monkeys

Seeing myself...in the eyes of a monkey

Text and all photos by Sally Kneidel, PhD

A wild adult female vervet monkey in my friend's backyard in South Africa

Primates fascinate me. I love coming face to face with another animal who's so much like me - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I wanted desperately to see monkeys in Africa. It's easy to imagine that they have human feelings, because they do; in fact, mammals in general have emotions similar to our own. Their brains have the same structures as ours; the structures just differ in their relative size. Mammals can experience fear, longing, anger, curiosity, boredom, rivalry or jealousy, frustration, the urge to mate, the urge to nest and nurture their offspring, the fierce drive to protect their young from harm...

A vervet monkey showing fear or an appeasement "grin" at a monkey with a higher rank.

And for those primates and other mammals or birds who are social animals (living in social groups), they feel "pleasure" in the company of one another and in grooming each other. Chimpanzees even clean one another's teeth.

A social group of vervets (photo above) foraging for fruit together in my friend's backyard in South Africa

Africa is a good place to see primates, especially the great apes. South America is a good place too. The Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon has more primates than any other reserve in the world - at least 14, maybe 16 species. Several of them are marmosets or tamarins. Alas, I haven't been there. I haven't seen a profusion of primates on my few trips to Latin America, because I haven't been to the best places. And many of the primates I have seen have been someone's pet, or for sale in the marketplace for a dollar or two. I wrote about the Belen Market in Iquitos in a previous post. Man, that was an eye-opener. The monkeys on string leashes, on human shoulders or laps, and in cages were so sad...and disturbing. I didn't see monkeys on strings or in cages in Africa. I don't know why. Maybe those that are captured are sold as bushmeat.

Anyway, in South Africa this past June, we were really happy to see four species of primates in the bush: vervet monkeys, Chacma baboons, lesser bushbabies, and thick-tailed bushbabies. All of them thrilled and delighted me. Just a few words about the vervet monkeys here, and I'll write about the others later. Vervet monkeys reminded me of the capuchins in Latin America, the famous "organ grinder" monkeys and "helping hand" monkeys for people with quadraplegia.

A white-faced capuchin in Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica. He's angry and threatening because I intruded on his troop's foraging route along the coastal fruit trees.

The size and proportions of vervets are similar to capuchins. And just like capuchins, vervets get into picnic baskets, beach bags, and outdoor kitchens - they're not afraid of mooching off humans, and meddling in human belongings. I heard more than one South African describe vervet monkeys as "pests."

Vervets raiding a neighbor's outdoor kitchen at Satara rest camp in Kruger National Park
(pics above and below)

Vervets searching our outdoor kitchen for food in Punda Maria rest camp in Kruger Park (below).

The vervets wouldn't let me get close to them; when I tried they ran away. All mammals have a "minimum distance" that they'll tolerate. Only the sight or scent of food will make them come closer. Which is unfortunate, since feeding wildlife is almost always a bad idea. It leads to malnutrition, illness, and premature death.

The vervets around our kitchen were persistent. They hung around the perimeter of our porch, waiting for us to go inside.

Finally they scored a piece of bread (below) by opening a bag when we stepped inside for a moment.

I felt bad! But I learned my lesson. Food has to be taken inside or locked up. Without exception!

One day I was sitting on the back steps at my friend's house in South Africa, and I could hear a troop of vervet monkeys coming toward his yard through the trees. Vervets make at least 36 distinct sounds, including barks, chutters, chirps and grunts. Each sound has its own context and meaning. I know that a couple of my friend's neighbors feed the vervets because I've seen them do it. So as soon as the vervets spotted me sitting on the steps, with my feet on the grass, a few of them hopped to the roof and peered down at me, to see what I might have in my lap. Nothing.

The vervets peering down at me from the roof to see if I had any food (photo above).

I didn't shoo them away. I didn't do anything but hold my camera, sit still, and look at them. Pretty soon a few crept closer on the ground, to see what I might toss their way. They came closer, hopeful. Below...interested, but pretending not to be.

Inching closer.

Closer still, but still averting the eyes and feigning disinterest.

Closer indeed, and quite ready for the handout. But, alas, no snacks were forthcoming....and soon they wandered away.

Another time we were at Pafuri Picnic spot in South Africa where an African family was having a fragrant cookout, and vervets converged, on the ground and in the trees. I sat down on a bench nearby and tried to get a decent shot, but failed. Even though they were running around 5 feet from me, hoping I had food (I did not), I got almost no photos. They just wouldn't sit still, or look at me. Monkeys have a way of refusing to look me in the face - it must be taken as a challenge in monkey society to stare at someone, because they rarely do it...to me, anyway. Maybe I just look like a really ugly monkey, and they can't bear to look.

Vervets are interesting socially. They live in family groups of females and young that share and jointly defend a traditional home range. A number of attached males help defend the females and their land from "outsider" males. Babies nurse by sitting between their mothers' legs and suckling both nipples at once.

A nursing mother vervet (above) at the Pafuri picnic spot in Kruger National Park

A mother vervet nursing her baby at Satara Rest Camp, in Kruger Park (above)

A female's social standing is determined by her family's rank. High-ranking families get first choice at any resource in short supply. Females of low-ranking families must defer to even youngsters of higher rank. The lower-ranking females try to improve their lot by hanging out with the "aristocrats" - grooming them, handling their babies, requesting their help to resolve disputes. But adult female vervets spend most of their time with close relatives and others of similar rank.

When male offspring mature, they have to migrate to another troop, usually during the mating season. But vervets of both sexes hate immigrants, and many of the newcomers are killed. A migrating male has a better chance if he has an older brother already in the troop he moves to. If he's not accepted, he tries again with another troop.

Males compete with one another for social and reproductive dominance. When a group stops to feed in a grove of fruit trees, the dominant male may sit with his intimidating red penis and blue scrotum displayed as a message to intruders "Mature male on guard. Keep out!"

A dominant male (above) displays his brightly-colored genitals to keep other monkeys away from the sausage fruit (I think) he's eating.

A female or younger male vervet (above) wants a bite of the fruit but is afraid to approach.

I wish I had more shots of vervets completely in the wild, but this is where I saw them....around human habitations, mostly inside Kruger Park, where they're protected.

What's their conservation status? How are they getting along in southern Africa where they're often seen as pests? I spent some time googling "vervet monkeys conservation status" and didn't find a whole lot. The most informative source I found was Wikipedia, under the "Vervet Monkey" entry, "Protection and Conservation"paragraphs.

I read there that vervet monkeys are not monitored and their true status is unknown. I believe it said that they are listed in CITES Appendix 2 as a species that could become threatened if their populations are not monitored. Below is a quote from Wikipedia, slightly edited for clarity.

"In spite of low predator populations in many areas where human development has encroached on wild territories, vervet monkeys are killed by electricity pylons, vehicles, dogs, pellet guns, poison and bullets, and are trapped for traditional medicine, bush meat and for biomedical research. The vervet monkey has a complex and fragile social system - their persecution is thought to have impacted on troop structures and diminishing numbers.

"According to recent distribution maps, the vervet monkey is quickly disappearing in the Western Cape of South Africa where they are heavily persecuted. The Darwin Primate Group is the only rescue and rehabilitation center for vervets in this province, with their primary goals being to find methods for humans and wildlife to co-exist, to educate the public so that the severe persecution of monkeys and baboons in this province is confronted, and to help injured and orphaned vervet monkeys in need. The center has a volunteer program to help with its goals.

"The Vervet Monkey Foundation in South Africa is working on conservation and protection of the vervets. The foundation makes use of volunteer workers from western countries.

"There is also an invasive breeding population in Florida. It is believed that they escaped from the Tarzan Set in the 1950's, or possibly a road show."

!!! I found that last paragraph a bit surprising! Where in Florida, I wonder?

Anyway....vervet monkeys are adaptable to human settlements, more so than most wild animals. Who knows what lies in store for them. But the spirit of persecution that seems to prevail in southern Africa reminds me of the history of the American wolf, who was hunted to virtual extinction in the United States. They've only recently rebounded, in a limited fashion, by the airlifting of Canadian wolves into Wyoming, and their slow natural migration southward from Canada after hunting was banned. Now hunting has been legalized again....

Wildlife needs our help. My husband and I spend all of our charity dollars on wildlife, and preservation of prime wildlife habitat. Consider making a donation to your favorite wildlife charity today. Some good ones include the World Wildlife Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, TRAFFIC, Conservation International, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Rainforest Action Network. Or pick a primate organization, one of the vervet organizations mentioned above. Lots of people are trying to change our present trajectory and find a different future that can include wildlife. Be one of them.

Source for vervet social behavior: Richard D. Estes The Safari Companion; A Guide to the Watching of African Mammals. Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

Key words:: South Africa primates vervet monkeys primate conservation

All photos by Sally Kneidel, PhD