Woolly monkeys are large, attractive and widespread primates found throughout many parts of the Amazon basin. It is only in the last twenty-five years or so that long-term studies of woollies in their forest habitat have been successful; they have not generally been successfully kept in captivity. But now, especially because of their size, these creatures are pressed on all sides by bush meat hunters and forest fragmentation. Their future is becoming critically precarious and the editors feel that it is time to showcase these animals with a full book. The editors draw together a number of recent woolly monkey studies from three Amazonian countries, including five taxa of woolly monkeys, four of which have recently been reclassified without using new biological criteria as species rather than subspecies (Groves, 2001, 2005; Rylands & Mittermeier, 2009). The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics, and Captive Research provides a diversity of studies by well-known researchers and advanced students on a wide range of subjects using newly generated data, including a criticism of the recent taxonomic changes. The varied information contained within The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics, and Captive Research will help readers understand these handsome animals and will, we hope, energize them to contribute to their conservation.
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1. Introduction: Studying Woolly Monkeys
Part II: Systematics and Taxonomy
Chapter 2. Coat Color is not an Indicator of Subspecies Identity in Colombian Woolly Monkeys
Chapter 3. Colombian Lagothrix: Analysis of their Phenotypes and Taxonomy
Part III: Ex Situ Research
Chapter 4. Behavior and Husbandry of a Captive Group of Woolly Monkeys: A Case Study
Chapter 5. Clinical Experience and Diseases of the Woolly Monkey
Chapter 6. Recent Advances in Woolly Monkey Nutrition
Chapter 7. Effects of Housing Conditions and Diet on the Behavior of Captive Woolly Monkeys
Part IV. In Situ Ecology and Behavior
Chapter 8. Life History, Behavior and Development of Wild Immature Lowland Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix poeppigii) in Amazonian Ecuador
Chapter 9. Seed Dispersal by Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha) at Caparu Biological Station, Colombia: Quantitative Description and Qualitative Analysis
Chapter 10. Ranging Behavior, Daily Path Lengths, Diet and Habitat Use of Yellow Tailed Woolly Monkeys (Oreonax flavicauda) at La Esperanza, Peru
Chapter 11. Vocal Communication in Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha lugens) at Cueva de los Guacharos National Park, Colombia
Chapter 12. Potential Determinants of the Abundance of Wolly Monkeys in Neotropical Forests
Chapter 13. Behavior Ecology and Inter-individual Distance of Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha) in Rainforest Fragment in Colombia
Part V. Conservation
Chapter 14. Notes on the Behavior of Captive and Released Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha): Reintroduction as a Conservation Strategy in Colombian Southern Amazon
Chapter 15. Population Viability Analysis of Woolly Monkeys in Western Amazonia
Chapter 16. Yellow Tailed Woolly Monkey (Oreonax flavicauda): Conservation Status, Anthropogenic Threats and Conservation Initiatives