Annual Report 2021 Spider Monkey Project

SPIDER MONKEY CONSERVATION PROJECT Caparo Forest Reserve, Venezuela

FINAL REPORT 2021 Project Coordinator: Diana Liz Duque Sandoval Participants: José Paipa, Ramiro Cuellar, Emilio Gomez, Rafael Virigay, Harrison Melgarejo

SPIDER MONKEY CONSERVATION PROJECT

About us The Spider Monkey Conservation Project is a non-profit Civil Association whose main objective is the long-term conservation of the spider monkey Ateles hybridus, the fauna and the last forest of the Caparo Forest Reserve in Barinas state in Venezuela.

Study area:

Caparo Forestry Reserve is located in the Municipality of Ezequiel Zamora, south-western state of Barinas, in Venezuela’s western plains. The reserve is on the south bank of the Caparo River, the Interior Plain of Western Venezuela and Eastern Colombia, a flat lowland at the foot of the Andes.

Caparo reserve covered originally an area of 184,100 ha.

After years of deforestation, currently survive less than 7,000 ha of continuous forest. This 7,000 ha constitute the Caparo Experimental Station that is owned by the University of the Andes (ULA) since 1970, and it is protected under the figure of Commodatum contract between ULA and the Ministry of the Environment. From the biogeographic point of view Caparo Experimental Station is located in the ColomboVenezuelan Llanos region. Caparo Forest Reserve is classified as a tropical dry forest, a designation based on the Holdridge Life Zone System of vegetation classification (Holdridge, 1967). According to Janzen (1988), it is a tropical dry forest, which is the most endangered major tropical ecosystem in the world.

Project specific objectives

Conducting scientific research that allow to know diverse aspects of the ecology of the species, its threats, habitat status and effects of fragmentation in the local population.

Training young researchers and local youth in the community, on issues of ecology, environmental education and conservation.

Implementing actions to conserve the spider monkey populations and its habitat in the Caparo Forest Reserve.

Implement an environmental education program to raise awareness among local community about the importance of preserving this species and its habitat in the Caparo Forest Reserve.

Incorporate the local community in projects involving sustainable practices for the maintenance of forests and biodiversity.

Diana Liz Duque Sandoval, Biologist

Location of the Caparo Forest Reserve in Venezuela

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT Objective Carry out tours of the forest to prevent entry of people, invasions, hunting, prevention of forest fires and early detection of any damage to the forest, created since 2018 after a large illegal occupation of people that affected the forest

Justification Due to the country's crisis and low labor wages, the Caparo Experimental Station of the Universidad de los Andes does not have the resources to maintain itself, so it has been without staff since 2018, the year of the illegal occupation, the station was left alone and without carrying out none of its own activities that it carried out in its good times, such as research and student internships, the camp is deteriorated, making it a risk for illegal occupants to take over the place. Therefore, it was necessary to maintain personnel carrying out surveillance and permanence tasks to maintain the forest, so the Spider Monkey Project with initial support from Auckland Zoo created the Caparo Ranger project in 2018.

THE RANGERS

Jose Melgarejo Paipa

Harrison Melgarejo

Emilio Gomez

Rafael Virigay

33 years of experience as a guide and connoisseur of the forest, at the Universidad de los Andes. Active retiree

New ranger, start in August 2021. Born in the Caparo Forest Reserve

14 years of experience as a guide and connoisseur of the forest, at the Universidad de los Andes.

31 years of experience as a guide and connoisseur of the forest, at the Universidad de los Andes.

Ramiro Cuellar

Ranger in 2020 until July 2021. Inhabitant and born of the community of Caparo

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT The main activities carried out during the trips in 2021 were:

•

Trips were carried out through the main surveillance routes previously established on foot within the forest and by motorcycle in the surroundings

•

Several hunter lookouts were detected and destroyed

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Trips were made with the Army and National Guard

•

Surveys and surveillance of the different natural wells of the forest were carried out to prevent hunting

•

The death of two Cunaguaros (Leopardus pardalis) was recorded, where shots were evidenced, indicating that they were killed by hunters

•

The presence of a hunter was detected, due to a motorcycle found in the forest that was seized and retained by the National Guard, the person received a fine

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Monitoring the groups of spider monkeys in the forest

•

No forest fires occurred during 2021

•

There were no illegal occupation attempts, however the community notified us of several meetings that people held where they organized and called on the community to occupy the forest.

•

The rangers helped with the collection of seeds, seedlings, installation and maintenance of the nursery for the first restoration project carried out by us.

•

Rangers helped with plant identification for the Caño Anaru spider monkey group monitoring Project

•

The rangers helped with the labor for the elaboration and installation of 5 educational fences (welding of metal sheets and installation with cement)

During the 2021 the pandemic affected part of the spider monkey project team, making two rangers and the project director sick, without major health complications, they managed to continue with the work You can follow the updates about the ranger's work on our social media pages

MAIN SURVEILLANCE ROUTES

The following image shows the main routes traveled by the rangers, in yellow already established internal pikes traveled on foot, in red north and south routes by motorcycle. The pikes are small routes that are opened on the forest to move more easily. The western and eastern areas are the most vulnerable and where the greatest number of routes are carried out, the main impacts and entry of people have been found, line number 6 is the main road through which people enter the most central areas of the forest and to hunt, so greater vigilance is carried out in this place

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT DESTRUCTION OF HUNTER LOOKOUTS Four hunter lookouts were found and were destroyed by the Rangers. Hunter lookout are sites made with wood where hunters wait for fauna to kill them, mainly limpets and picures in the dry season.

Trips were made with the Army and National Guard

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT EVALUATION OF NATURAL PONDS

The natural ponds of the forest are frequently visited, since they are the favorite sites of hunters, where different animal footprints were observed such as: Jaguar, peccary, tapir There are about 15 natural ponds in the Caparo forest that we want to recover with another project, since in the dry season they run out of water affecting many animals

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT The death of two Cunaguaros (Leopardus pardalis) was recorded, where shots were evidenced, indicating that they were killed by hunters

The presence of a hunter was detected, due to a motorcycle found in the forest that was seized and retained by the National Guard, the person received a fine

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT SPIDER MONKEY GROUP OBSERVATIONS IN 2021 N.º OBSERV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

LOCALIDAD Limite Palma Pintada Limite Palma Pintada Limite Palma Pintada Limite Sur Limite Sur Pica 8 Norte Pica 8 Norte Pica 8 Norte Pica 8 Sur Pica 8 Sur Pica 8 Pica 8 Pica 7 P 74 Área 3 Área 3 Área 2 Pica 5 Cano Anaru

COORDENADAS 7°27'29.80"N - 71° 2'48.72"W 7°26'53.97"N - 71° 2'30.97"W 7°26'24.08"N - 71° 2'15.68"W 7°25'5.71"N - 71° 0'39.67"W 7°24'44.16"N - 70°59'59.22"W 7°28'6.48"N - 71° 1'53.68"W 7°28'20.57"N - 71° 1'36.25"W 7°28'12.15"N - 71° 1'18.31"W 7°27'47.89"N - 71° 1'42.96"W 7°27'56.87"N - 71° 1'29.11"W 7°27'29.58"N - 71° 0'52.98"W 7°27'4.18"N - 71° 0'35.17"W 7°27'53.49"N - 70°59'26.12"W 7°27'56.68"N - 70°59'10.08"W 7°27'51.38"N - 70°58'40.59"W 7°28'2.11"N - 70°58'33.20"W 7°27'35.47"N - 70°58'1.82"W 7°27'18.26"N - 70°57'24.09"W 7°25'40.94"N - 71° 4'11.37"W

N.º DE INDIVIDUOS

5 8

5 4 hembras

32

Table of some observations of groups of spider monkeys in the Caparo forest during ranger walks in 2021

Locations of some observations of spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus) during ranger walks in 2021

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT SPIDER MONKEY GROUP OBSERVATIONS IN 2021

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT CAPARO BIODIVERSITY , SOME SPECIES OBSERVED BY THE FOREST RANGERS

Water turtle

Heliconius butterfly

American stork, Jabiru mycteria

Common Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis

Pepsis Wasp

Giant South Amerian Snail (Megalobulimus oblongus)

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT

Cave and footprints of the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus)

Collared peccary footprints Panthera onca footprints

Tapir footprints and feces

CAPARO RANGERS PROJECT

Scolopendra Leptotila sp.

Fruit bat (Artibeus)

The visored bat (Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum)

Erythrolamprus dorsocollarinus

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Objective Create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys that inhabit an isolated forest fragment of the community of Palma Pintada in the Caparo Forest Reserve, by restoring an extension of the Caño Anarú that connects with the big forest

Justification

The area of the Caño Anaru, which borders the community called Palma Pintada in Caparo, has suffered a change in its forest surface since the occupation in 2004 due to human intervention, the selective extraction of valuable timber species, the felling of forest areas. for conversion to grazing areas and the expansion of the agricultural frontier, which has caused a decrease in the floristic diversity of the caño, which can have strong impacts on the stability of the ecosystem, leading to the reduction of food chains, the decrease of the populations and the disappearance of species, such as the spider monkey Ateles hybridus, a group of 32 individuals that currently lives isolated in the forest of the Caño Ánarú from another less intervened section.

Forest restoration has been proposed as a complementary strategy for the conservation of these ecosystems, given the high degree of degradation in which many of the forested areas of the tropics are found, since the richness of species could recover rapidly during the succession of the secondary forest, In this way, ecological restoration, as defined by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), represents a solution to address this problem, helping and accelerating the recovery of this type of ecosystem.

The restoration of the Caño Anaru can serve as an ecological corridor for the spider monkey and other species, since the Caño reaches and limits the entire southern part of the forest.

What is caño?

Natural course of intermittent flow water characteristic of flat areas. Caño is the regional term, to be called a narrow course of water that connects a flooding depression with a river

The area to be restored comprises the gallery forest in two zones of a length of 2km from the Anarú caño that connects the forest fragment with the continuous forest

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

RESULTS AND METHODS We follow the recommendations of restoration of forests and landscapes according to the FAO (2011), technical guides for the ecological restoration of the ecosystems of Colombia (Vargas et al, 2012)

Selection of species For the selection of species it is necessary to consider not only their ecological importance for the spider monkey, but also the needs of the communities. For this we carried out in the previous evaluation a vegetation profile and previously in a study we determined a list of plants that are consumed by the spider monkey At the beginning of the project we selected the species under the following criteria: fast-growing species, fruit trees and trees with a wide crown.

List of plants selected and planted in the nursery

Family

Specie

Common name

Fabaceae

Samanea saman

Saman

1800

Fabaceae

Enterolobium cyclocarpum

Carocaro

2000

Sterculiaceae Anacardiaceae

No identificada Guazuma ulmifolia Anacardium excelsum

Sombrero o Ranchero Guacimo Mijao o Caracoli

200 250 200

Meliaceae

Trichilia trifolia

Cedrillo

250

Burseraceae

Protium crenatum

Triaco

150

Bombacaceae

Ceiba pentandra

Ceiba

250

Myrtaceae

Syzygium jambos

Pumaroso

400

Caesalpiniaceae

Cassia grandis

Caño fistola

200

Anacardiaceae

Anacardium occidentale

Merey

150

Bignoniaceae

Tabebuia rosea

Apamate

1200

Annonaceae

Annona montana

Guanabana

250

Sapotaceae

Chrysophyllum sericeum

Caimito

200

Anacardiaceae

Spondias mombin

Jobo

600

Anacardiaceae Sapindaceae

Mangifera sp.

Allophylus sp.

Mango Canelito

800 100

Aracaceae

Syagrus sp.

Palma sarare

200

Aracaceae

Attalea butyracea

Palma de agua

100

Aracaceae

Aiphanes horrida

Palma mararay

200

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Collection of seedlings or regeneration The forest rangers carried out the collection of seedlings or regeneration of the majority of selected species, from November 2020 to January 2021. The reasons for choosing regeneration instead of seeds was for the speed and ease of obtaining regeneration in the forest and we have the ease that the rangers recognize the plants.

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Nursery installation The plants were prepared in rustic nurseries, (preparation November - February). In the Campamento Cachicamo area, there is previous experience in the installation of nurseries in previous years. The rustic nurseries function as demonstration modules for the production of native species for restoration. It was carried out in an area of 25 x 100 m2, fenced with chicken wire or a cyclone, with availability of water, access to land for transportation, composting, a place to fill bags and some structure to protect the work material, on soils with good drainage and shade.

The first 5,000 bags were prepared in November 2020 and the other 5,000 in February 2021, due to a delay with the last bags for reasons beyond our control, the work was carried out by three people hired to carry material and fill the bags

Transportation of material and filling of 5000 bags November 2020

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Nursery installation Diciembre 2020

Enero 2021

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Nursery installation Transportation of material and filling of 5000 bags february 2021

Marzo 2021

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Nursery installation Abril 2021

Mayo 2021

Nursery Maintenance The maintenance of the nursery during the months of growth was carried out by the rangers, the plants had to be watered daily in the morning and in the afternoon, remove weeds that affected the growth of the plants and add the fertilizer

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Design for the spatial arrangement of plants

The way the plants will be placed in the plots is very important. Plants of different species were mixed at four different points of the channel where there are no or few trees. For this project, the spatial design in lines of the following figure is proposed, 4 rows of plants with 3 meters distance between rows and 2 meters distance between plants in the same row.

Proposed spatial design for the restoration of a segment of Caño Anarú

Percentage of survival of plants in the Nursery

Up to the moment of the transplant, 8,200 plants managed to survive in the nursery, of the original 10,000 bags, 500 bags were left for an educational day in schools

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Transfer and transplant The transfer of plants to the caño anaru was carried out in May 2021, by means of a tractor, it is necessary to sow at the beginning of the rainy season so that they are large in the dry season and can survive The plants were transplanted to the previously prepared and cleaned sites. The hole where the tree was planted at the time of the transplant was made, so that the soil would remain moist and loose, and the plastic bag was removed.

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Transfer and transplant

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Some of the plants planted

Enterolobium cyclocarpum

Ceiba pentandra

Mangifera sp.

Samanea saman

Spondias mombin

Palma

Guazuma ulmifolia

Syzygium jambos

Anacardium occidentale

Sombrero

Allophylus sp.

Anacardium excelsum

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Chrysophyllum sericeum

Community participation

Along the caño Anarú there are 11 private farms want they were already informed of the activity. An official from the MINEC, Ministry of Ecosocialism, Barinas headquarters, Emiliano Devia, helped us organize a meeting with the community that borders the caño where the activity to be carried out was explained to them, these people belong to the community of Palma Pintada, the same area that was illegally occupied in 2004, so they have always had differences and conflicts with us. When we held the meeting they did not want photos or recordings. The people whose properties border the Anaru Caño signed a commitment letter, except for two people who did not want to sign and refused to plant their land. Despite this, we decided to continue since their area did not greatly affect the rest of the project and in the future we could convince them in some way.

Engineer of MINEC Emiliano Devia

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve

Letter of commitment written by hand and signed at the meeting with the community that borders the Anaru caño

In yellow the group of spider monkeys that now inhabits the Caño beyond the old fragment, in red the deforested area of the forest fragment, in blue the areas where the plants were planted, the two red dots are the areas where two people did not allowed to plant. The areas to be restored vary in distance from 150 to 800 m, the areas of the people who did not give permission to plant are 150m and 200m, but only one of the sides of caño

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Monitoring and survival of planted plants In June 2021, the first evaluation of the sown plants was carried out, where it was shown that they were in good condition and growing, some plants reached a height of 70 cm.

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve In July 2021, an unusual flood began due to excessive rain that caused rivers, caños, roads to overflow and community crops were affected, something that had not happened for more than 10 years, so our plants planted in the Caño Anaru were also affected

Caparo River overflowed

Roads affected by rain

Flooded roads

Flooded forest

Planted plants remained under water

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Planted plants remained under water

Cedrillo Trichilia trifolia

Ceiba Ceiba pentandra

Apamate Tabebuia rosea

Saman Samanea saman

Pumaroso Syzygium jambos

Saman Samanea saman

septiembre 2021

septiembre 2021

Anarú caño restoration proposal to create an ecological corridor for a group of spider monkeys

Ateles hybridus from a fragment isolated in the Caparo Forest Reserve Some plants that have managed to survive

Ceiba

Pumaroso Syzygium jambos

Apamate

Ceiba Ceiba pentandra 130cm

Survival rate and conclusions

Plant survival rate after flooding was ~25%. Unfortunately, an unexpected event such as the flood damaged most of the planted plants, as well as the crops and roads in the community were affected.

In addition to this, during this year 2022, in the dry season, the people who had signed the commitment to help with the plantation, did not respect the agreement and have burned part of the planted areas, leaving only ~12% of the plants.

It is our first restoration project and we can improve our faults, we were successful with the nursery but not with the plantation planted mainly because of the flood and because of being in a conflict zone with this community, which illegally occupied 900 hectares of the forest in 2004. We believe that we can continue to try restoration projects in other areas of the caño that do not border this community in conflict, and in other areas of the forest where necessary, taking into account various aspects of what we learned with this project. In addition, it is clear that the conflict with that community must be resolved before attempting a restoration project in that particular area again. In Colombia, corridors have been created between forest fragments with ateles hybridus that have been used by different species in 5 years (Torres S, Valenzuela L, Patarroyo C, Montes A, Link A. (2022) Corridors in heavily fragmented landscapes: reconnecting populations of critically endangered brown spider monkeys (Ateles hybridus) and sympatric terrestrial vertebrates in the lowland rainforests of Central Colombia. Restoration Ecology (ISSN 10612971) 30 (4), pp. e13556-1-e13556-12. ) We want to work more with community and educational projects, with which we recognize that we have worked little, for this reason we propose that it be our main focus this and the coming years.

We want to give a special thanks to Auckland Zoo for trusting us and supporting us with this first Restoration Project, which allowed us to learn and recognize our failures and do better for the next opportunity.

We want to give a solution to the problem of the group of spider monkeys that is isolated in the caño anaru, which we will explain in the next section.

SITUATION OF A GROUP OF SPIDER MONKEYS (ATELES HYBRIDUS) THAT LIVES IN THE CAÑO ANARU, IN THE CAPARO FOREST RESERVE

OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study were to determine what area and length of the anaru spout is used by the group of monkeys, how many available food resources they have, and how they are used, as well as to determine their behavior and composition of the group.

METHOLOGY We follow the general guidelines for the study of primates in the field and the field protocol for studying Ateles hybridus of the Fundacion Proyecto Primates de Colombia. A biology student was hired as Field Assistant for data collection Yirmer David Balaguera Gomez and a Field Guide Harrison Melgarejo, under the direction and advice of Diana Duque, Biologist and Director of this project.

The study was carried out for three months from February 17 to May 15, 2021, making daily tours of the Caño Anaru gallery forest from 9 am until the monkeys were found and they were followed until 3 pm Each time the group was found, this was followed as long as possible, taking note of: 1) place of sighting, 2) location with GPS, 3) identification of the individual, 4) number of individuals observed and 5) activity of the focal (Altmann, 1974), 6) group composition. The individuals were observed with binoculars and the behavior was recorded in a notebook The habitat range was calculated by adding the daily routes and the distance traveled by means of the GPS, the initial point of sighting and the final point were noted.

Feeding In the study the plant used in the diet of the individuals was marked, the coordinates of its location were taken and samples were collected for their identification by the botanical specialists of the University of Los Andes (Mérida, Venezuela).

For the taking of data of the alimentary behavior it will be specified: • Common name for subsequent scientific identification.

• Plant life form: trees, shrubs, climbers, epiphytes and others.

• Consumed part: leaves, fruits, flowers and others.

• Feeding time.

SITUATION OF A GROUP OF SPIDER MONKEYS (ATELES HYBRIDUS) THAT LIVES IN THE CAÑO ANARU, IN THE CAPARO FOREST RESERVE STUDY AREA AND BACKGROUND The study was carried out with a group of spider monkeys in the Palma Pintada locality of the Caparo Forest Reserve, which is limited to Caño Añaru. It is the same town where in the previous section on restoration, we explained that in 2004 it was invaded and the community is currently in conflict with us.

Previously in 2013 this group was studied when it was found in a forest fragment of 20 hectares, located in the following image, the group was made up of 21 individuals, the results can be read in the publications of the following links https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/301222786_DIET_OF_THE_BROWN_SPIDER_MONKEY_ATELES_HYBRIDUS_IN_A_FOREST_FRAGMENT_IN_THE_CAPARO_FO REST_RESERVE_VENEZUELA_IN_DRY_SEASON https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/309421623_Behavior_of_a_group_of_spider_monkeys_Ateles_hybridus_in_a_forest_fragment_in_the_caparo_forest_rese rve_Venezuela_in_dry_season Then in 2016 we carried out a money-raising campaign on the Indiegogo page in order to raise USD 25,000 and buy the forest fragment which was for sale, however the collection was unsuccessful and the money could not be raised, We also spoke with the owners and they assured us not to deforest, however they sold the place and the new owners deforested during 2018 - 2019 and the group of spider monkeys moved to the Caño Añaru forest as you can see in the following image

SITUATION OF A GROUP OF SPIDER MONKEYS (ATELES HYBRIDUS) THAT LIVES IN THE CAÑO ANARU, IN THE CAPARO FOREST RESERVE RESULTS For this work we have partial results, since the contracted student Yirmer David Balaguera Gomez, did not comply with the delivery of the data taken and left the country, he did not comply with a letter of commitment for the delivery of the results that we made him sign, This person abused our trust and stole the information which was very important to determine conservation actions for this threatened group. We have promoted and given opportunities to students and volunteers to learn and join this area or this project, due to the scarcity of primatologists in Venezuela.

Below are the results that we managed to gather only during a month and a half of follow-ups, we do not have the behavioral data

Group size The group of spider monkeys present in the riparian forest of Caño Anarú consists of 32 individuals, which, most of the time, was divided into two unequal subgroups, one mixed with 18 to 22 individuals and the second with 10 to 12 individuals. The entire herd was only registered twice. However, subgroups of two, three and four, couples, trios and four individuals isolated from the rest of the group were also recorded.

Habitat range The group of spider monkeys has a distribution range of approximately 4 km along the Caño, limited on both sides by interruptions in the forest of sections without trees, the main interruption corresponds to the limit of the Caño of the Palma Pintada community and in the other end the interruption occurs because of a power line.

The following image shows 23 initial and final meeting points per day of the group of spider monkeys during a month and a half of work, the daily route had a length between 300 m to 2500 m, however, the largest proportion was between the 600 to 1000 m.

SITUATION OF A GROUP OF SPIDER MONKEYS (ATELES HYBRIDUS) THAT LIVES IN THE CAÑO ANARU, IN THE CAPARO FOREST RESERVE They establish preferential routes, generally preferring steps where the height of the trees is high enough, greater than 3 m. In addition, they exhibited an unequal use of the banks of the Caño, preferring the banks with wider strips of vegetation, therefore, with greater supply of food and the movement route was characterized by the crossing of the Caño, through trees with nearby branches. and the distance between one crossing zone with respect to the other could be close, 50 meters to 150 meters.

The crossing points are characterized by large trees that are always on the edge of the caño and whose branches are long enough to bring them closer to another adjacent tree branch on the other side of the caño . Among the most used trees for this purpose, the Cimarrón guácimo (Luehea seemanni), Higuerón (Ficus insípida) and other species of Matapalos (Ficus sp.)

DIET The diet of spider monkeys includes the consumption of ripe and unripe fruits, supplemented by foraging on vegetative tips and flower buds of trees, lianas, epiphytes and parasites, gnawing and licking of bark from living tree branches and decaying branches, and water.

The most consumed fruits are the water palm Attalea butiracea, the guacimo Guazuma ulmifolia, the different species of Guamo (Inga sp.), Chipio Ficus pertusa. However, spider monkeys seem to have a preference for certain fruits even when there are others that are available at that time, for example, they prefer guácimo or chipio even when there is water palm.

In addition, some food items are only available for a short period of time, for example, the inflorescences of legumes such as the zapato cacho (Lonchocarpus sericeus), Roble (Platysmicium pinnatum), were only available for one and two weeks, respectively. These inflorescences are also melliferous since they attract a large number of bees, which could be attractive to monkeys due to the sweet taste of the nectar they contain and the energy provided by this source of carbohydrates. Once these leguminous resources were exhausted, no record of use of the legume was obtained.

Spider monkeys consuming the fruit of the water palm in Caño Anarú

SITUATION OF A GROUP OF SPIDER MONKEYS (ATELES HYBRIDUS) THAT LIVES IN THE CAÑO ANARU, IN THE CAPARO FOREST RESERVE Some fruits have short periods of availability, such is the case of the chipio (Ficus pertusa), which usually prefer them when they are close to the point of physiological maturity and are desired by other primates such as the howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus) and the capuchin monkey (Cebus olivaceus) as well as several species of birds such as the guacharaca (Ortalis ruficauda), Toucan (Ramphastus sp.), Macaw (Ara macao) and species of passerines.

The abundance of food resources also determines the amplitude of the displacement and therefore, the spider monkey spends less time in its search and the periods of time dedicated to rest and social activities increase. For example, daily travel was halved when the density of foraging trees in a forested patch was sufficient, eg, the density or number of guamo trees.

Spider monkeys spent more time in areas that are temporarily richer in fruit resources. In times of fruit scarcity, spider monkeys feed on alternative food resources such as flowers, immature fruits, leaves and leaf buds.

Spider monkey feeding times

In the early hours of the morning they present a very steep slope until reaching their maximum in the time interval between eleven o'clock in the morning and noon, from then on, the time invested descends abruptly, however, it forms a plateau between the 1 to 3 in the afternoon to abruptly decrease feed consumption again at the end of the afternoon.

The time invested in feeding during the first month was 1870 min, of which, half was invested in the consumption of fruits, which together with the leaves dominate in more than 90% the items that the spider monkeys consume, being the consumption of flowers, the vegetable part that seems to show a provisional consumption, which could be an opportunistic use of this resource given its short duration, as well as its energy contribution in carbohydrates, in the case of legume flowers such as zapato cacho (Lonchocarpus sericeus) and roble (Platysmicium pinnatum).

Regarding water consumption, it is quite low (only 2% of the total), due to the fact that several authors suggest that they hydrate mainly from the water present in the fruits that they consume, as well as the risk of predation that it represents for the animal to go down to the spout, since it usually exhibits a marked nervousness as well as an accompaniment where the other monkeys act as sentinels and the short duration of the sips, which ranges between 5 seconds and a minute, the average being between 15 to 30 seconds.

Interactions with other primates

The riverside forest of Caño Anarú is also used by other species of primates such as the howler monkey Alouatta seniculus and the Capuchin monkey Cebus albifrons and the interspecific relationships with the Spider monkey included sharing feeding trees with the former while the capuchin seems to follow or be close to them . No aggression was observed, but the spider monkey seems to be dominant, since both the howler monkeys and the capuchins avoid crossing the path or trajectory of the spider monkey and if they coincide, they return, deviate or move away from it.

Some fruit plants that are consumed by the group of spider monkeys of Caño Anaru

1,2,3. Ficus sp., 4. Erythrina rubrinervia, 5. Pouteria sp., 6. Bactris major , 7,8. Strychnos panamensis, 9. Inga sp.

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. Philodendron longirrhizum, 2. Tanaecium pyramidatum, 3. Coccoloba caracasana, 4. Pouteria reticulata, 5. Guazuma ulmifolia, 6. Guapira olfersiana

List of species consumed by the group of spider monkeys of Caño Anaru Family

Specie

Common name

NYCTAGINACEAE

Guapira olfersiana

Casabito

MORACEAE

Ficus pertusa

Chipio

BIGNONEACEAE

Tanaecium pyramidatum ?

Bejuco maromo Ranchero

ARACEAE

Philodendron longirrhizum

Bejuco tripa pollo Bejuco de arco

COMBRETACEAE

Terminalia oblonga

Guayabon

SAPOTACEAE

Pouteria sp.

Chupon blanco

SAPOTACEAE

Pouteria reticulata

Chupon rojo

MELIACEAE

Cedrela odorata

Cedro

LORANTHACEAE

Phthirusa sp.

Pajarito o Parasita

LOGANIACEAE

Strychnos panamensis

Bejuco cuspato

DILLENIACEAE

Davilla nitida

Bejuco chaparro

MALVACEAE

Luehea seemannii

Guacimo cimarron

FABACEAE

Inga thibaudiana

Guamo negro

ANACARDIACEAE

Spondias mombin

Jobo

FABACEAE FABACEAE

Lonchocarpus sericeus Erythrina rubrinervia

Jebe o Zapato cacho Pionio

MORACEAE

Chlorophora tinctoria

Mora

BIXACEAE

Bixa urucurana

Onotillo

FABACEAE

Inga sp

Guamo de cano

FABACEAE

Inga sp

Guamo caramecate

FABACEAE

Inga espectbilis

Guamo Negro

MALVACEAE

Guazuma ulmifolia

Guacimo blanco

Polygonaceae

Coccoloba caracasana

Uvero

MALVACEAE

Byttneria aculeata

Rabo de iguana

BOMBACACEAE

Ceiba pentandra

Ceiba o majumba

ARECACEAE

Attalea butyracea

Palma de agua

LECYTHIDACEAE

Couroupita guianensis

Coco de mono

PAPILIONACEAE

Fissicalyx fendleri

Tasajo

EUPHORBIACEAE

Sapium glandulosum

Lechero

SAPOTACEAE

Chrysophyllum argenteum

Caimito

MORACEAE

Ficus insipida

Higueron

CAESALPINIACEAE

Cassia grandis

Caño fístola

ARECACEAE

Bactris major

Cubarro

BIGNONEACEAE

Crescentia amazónica

Totumo de cano

CONCLUSIONS

Surprisingly, the group of spider monkeys from Caño Anaru has grown since 2013, the number of which was 21 individuals, and is now 32, females with babies were also observed, despite being in a very small space, they have been able to adapt to the length of the available channel, they also have enough resources to feed themselves during the year, the community that limits in the area where the spider monkeys are distributed in the caño are old inhabitants who have known how to leave enough gallery forest to the caño throughout the years, and at the moment the monkeys are not in danger, however for the survival of the group of spider monkeys in the long term we have to find a solution. It is important to restore the degraded areas of the caño and evaluate how to solve the end interrupted by the power line, and the area that borders the Palma Pintada community in conflict, since the giant water dog Pteronura brasiliensis also inhabits this caño, among other species. .

Currently, the municipality of Andrés Eloy Blanco, to which Caparo belongs, has a new Mayor, who was the first Mayor to contact us interested in collaborating with this project, to save Caparo. On that side, we hope that he can help us improve the situation with the Palma Pintada community. We have good relations with the other communities that surround the forest and with some inhabitants of the same Palma Pintada community.

The following image shows the location of the Caño Anarú along the forest and the area that borders the Palma Pintada community.

In our next projects we want to focus on working with the community, environmental education projects, monitoring large mammals with camera traps, exploring the Caño Anarú to detect fauna such as water dogs and other degraded areas, solving the problem of spider monkeys in the caño and work with other restoration projects in other areas, improve our relations with the Palma Pintada community that borders with the Caño Anarú.

ELABORATION OF EDUCATIONAL BILLBOARD

The following billboard with conservation messages were made and placed at various points surrounding the forest, new ones and others to replace old billboard that were deteriorated. This project was to replace an educational activity in schools that was suspended in 2021 since the children were not seeing classes.

The billboard were made with cement and metal sheets by the rangers and the painter by Mr. Antonio Diaz, hired in the town for hand painting, with the support of Auckland Zoo with resources from 2021 but due to delays we made them in these months of 2022

Billboard for the entrance of the Camp

Billboard for area 5 of the forest

ELABORATION OF EDUCATIONAL BILLBOARD

Billboard for the main entrance of the forest

Billboard on the conservation of the Caño Anaru

ELABORATION OF EDUCATIONAL BILLBOARD Billboard in the Caño Anaru near the group of spider monkeys

Billboard that are pending to finish 1. A billboard that will be made in print to replace an old one 2. A wall in the town to make a mural, not yet done

PRESS ARTICLES

Spanish https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/413791-ultimobosque-llanos-venezuela-mono-extincion

https://marketresearchtelecast.com/the-fight-for-the-lastforest-of-the-western-plains-of-venezuela-and-home-of-thespider-monkey-a-critically-endangered-primate/231629/

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/349338751_El_mono_arana_Ateles_hybridus_en_la_Reserva_Forestal_Caparo_ecologia_y_conservacion

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: Proyecto Mono Araña/Spider Monkey Project

Instagram @proyecto_ateles

Thank you all for supporting this project, this help has been vital for the protection of the Caparo forest and its biodiversity