Primate Update E-Newsletter, Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part 3

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Special Topic: Intern Annabel
Diets of wild spider monkeys

Spider monkeys are frugivorous, with 90% of their diet consisting of fruit and nuts. They are a classic example of a frugivorous primate and are often considered to be “ripe fruit specialists”. Spider monkeys compliment this heavily frugivorous diet with other plant parts such as leaves (mainly young leaves), flowers, seeds, aerial roots, palm hearts, and the liquid endosperm or “milk” from inside immature palm fruits. In some areas, spider monkeys were also reported consuming other items, including a few species of invertebrates (mainly caterpillars, meliponid bees, and termites), fungi, decaying wood, soil from mineral licks, and arboreal termite nests. Spider monkeys obtain most of their water requirements directly from the fruits, leaves, and flowers they consume. They will occasionally drink water directly from tree holes, arboreal bromeliads, and small streams around mineral licks.

Carlos and Montana are provided with

 a wide variety of fresh fruits

We try to mimic this diet with our Spider monkeys, Carlos and Montana. We give them a varied diet consisting of fruit, vegetables, and a protein (usually nuts), twice a day. We also use specially designed primate biscuits that provide them with all the nutrients they need to remain healthy. Carlos and Montana drink from a tap that they operate themselves. We also give them browse regularly that includes mulberry branches, and ginger flower branches. This gives them a chance to work for their food and replicate behaviors that would be displayed in the wild. Giving them hard un-cracked nuts, such as hazelnuts, provides them with a challenge and keeps their minds occupied.


-Campbell, Christina J. Spider Monkeys: The Biology, Behaviour, and Ecology of the Genus Ateles (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology). UK. Cambridge University Press. 2008.


Special Topic: Intern Linda
Comparative Aspects of the Social Suppression of Reproduction in Female Marmosets and Tamarins

A Family of Cotton Top Tamarins at PPS

In the social structure of marmosets and tamarins, a hierarchy is seen consisting of the alpha pair and their subordinates. Though marmosets and tamarins share many similarities, there are also many differences between the genera. Reproductive suppression plays a very important role in social dynamics and for the species collectively (younger females, though sexually mature, do not reproduce). Reproductive suppression is beneficial because it produces a communal rearing system and subordinates acquire valuable offspring rearing experience.

Below is a table comparing the similarities and differences of reproductive suppression between two species that are found at Pacific Primate Sanctuary, white tufted eared marmosets (common marmoset) and cotton top tamarins.

-Rylands, A.B. Marmosets and Tamarins. Systematics, Behavior, and Ecology. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1993.

“If we all give up hope and do nothing, well then indeed there is no hope. It (the Earth) will be helped by all of us, every one of us taking action of some sort.”
-Jane Goodall



We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Pacific Primate Sanctuary’s E-Newsletter. Thank you for your support of our life saving work. Because of compassionate people, the Sanctuary can continue to provide a place of peace and happiness for 70 primates saved from research laboratories, animal dealers, and tourist attractions. Here they can heal, form families, and live free from exploitation.

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