The impact of sanctuary visits on children's knowledge and attitudes toward primate welfare and conservation.

Primate sanctuaries provide a solution for the increasing number of primates being taken from their home countries to support the demands of the illegal pet trade. To help end the primate trade and raise awareness about the risks this trade poses to delicate ecosystems, sanctuaries are increasingly developing conservation education programs. Education and raising awareness must be one of the primary roles of primate sanctuaries.

Behavioural Development of Three Former Pet Chimpanzees a Decade after Arrival at the MONA Sanctuary.

Chimpanzees used as pets and in the entertainment industry endure detrimental living conditions from early infancy onwards. The preferred option for ending their existence as pet or circus chimpanzees is their rescue and transfer to a primate sanctuary that will provide them with optimal living and social conditions, so that they can thrive. In this case study, we had the rare opportunity to compare the activity budgets of three chimpanzees from their time as pets in 2004 to their time living at the MONA sanctuary in 2020, after almost a decade in the centre.

Influence of climatic variables, forest type, and condition on activity patterns of Geoffroyi's spider monkeys throughout Mesoamerica.

Understanding how species cope with variations in climatic conditions, forest types and habitat amount is a fundamental challenge for ecologists and conservation biologists. We used data from 18 communities of Mesoamerican spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) throughout their range to determine whether their activity patterns are affected by climatic variables (temperature and rainfall), forest types (seasonal and nonseasonal forests), and forest condition (continuous and fragmented). Data were derived from 15 published and unpublished studies carried out in four countries (Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama), cumulatively representing more than 18 years (221 months, >3,645 hr) of behavioral observations.

Diet of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Mesoamerica: current knowledge and future directions.

Here we review all published articles and book chapters, as well as unpublished theses and data of Ateles geoffroyi diet to (1) summarize the literature; (2) synthesize general feeding patterns; (3) document plant taxonomic similarity in diet across study sites; and (4) suggest directions for future research and conservation priorities. We found 22 samples from five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. Tropical wet forest is the most studied habitat (N=13 samples), followed by tropical dry forest (6) and tropical moist forest (3).