Howler monkeys face dangers in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve

Even in fairy tales, not all endings are happy. This week, we were witnesses to a tragic story with a silver lining. Along the northern shore of Lake Apoyo, howler monkeys have proliferated, so much so, that Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve is now among the best locations in Nicaragua for monkey watching. Golden-mantled howler monkeys regularly enter the areas where housing was constructed in the 1960's and 1970's, between the access road and the lake. (White-faced capuchin monkeys also inhabit our area, but are fewer and occupy very limited ranges.) This means they are entering yards of homes and coming into contact with electric transmission wires. As a group of monkeys moved through the forest and into a neighboring yard, one female monkey managed to cross wires and was electrocuted. When we learned of the event, we were mobilized to do what we could. When we arrived on the scene, the lifeless body of the monkey was still attached to the electric wires, which had shorted out and no longer carrying current. Clinging to her waist was a terrified baby, still very alive.

This baby golden-mantled howler monkey clings to her lifeless mother. Photo by Susana de Winne.

We asked ourselves whether the infant monkey had survived. Mother and baby were about five meters above the ground, the mothers tail and paw locked around the wire and the baby clinging to her mother's lifeless body. After several minutes, the baby monkey raised her head and blinked. We didn't know what to do next, but we were happy to know that one life may not be lost.

Tense moments when a baby monkey's life was at risk. Photo by Susana de Winne.

We were concerned the baby would fall with or without her mother, and suffer a bad injury or death. Additionally, the monkeys had now attracted the attention of several neighbors, and we were also concerned that the wrong neighbors would capture and keep the monkey as a pet. The baby howler monkey was disoriented and anything was possible. We quickly installed a sheet beneath the wires to catch the animals in case the grip of the dead mother would release. And we watched and waited.

The baby monkey continues to cling to her mother. Photo by Susana de Winne.

After another half-hour, the infant monkey 

After another half-hour, the infant monkey climbed off her mother and into the nearby trees. We contemplated whether we should capture the baby, while the baby continued to move. Soon, she was in a tall tree, and we sighed from relief. There are folks who would not hesitate to capture her if they could, to enslave her to the pet trade, a fate nearly as bad as death. We only hoped the infant would quickly reintegrate with her troop, which had departed after the horrible death of the poor mother monkey.

Electrocution by electric utility wires is perhaps the greatest factor in mortality of howler monkeys and other animals in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. Photo by Susana de Winne.

While we watched the infant monkey, the unscrupulous people who had gathered knocked down the dead mother monkey from the electric cable. We returned to recover her body and prevent others from selling her or using her body for any other purpose. We lingered while watching her body lying on the sheet where she had fallen. Her tail and two limbs were locked in their contracted positions, an adaptation among these animals to allow them to sleep in trees without falling. There were small burns on her hands and tail, otherwise, she looked a perfect specimen in the prime of her life. No fleas or mites were jumping from her body, no injuries or scars were evident. Her half-opened eyes betrayed her final moments when death stole her away. Her breast was full, vainly awaiting her offspring.
We recovered her body, from which we will conserve her skin and skull for scientific and educational purposes. It is our hope to make Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve safe and prosperous for the wild animals which need its forests and water. Part of what we do, at times, is no more than give witness to what we see.
Life is hard for humans, and even harder for wildlife. Mortality among monkeys is very high, from our casual observations, sometimes from falling from trees, other times from the cruelty of people, and sometimes, electric wires. Our electrical connections in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve need protectors to save wildlife from the risks of electrocution. Too often, arboreal animals are killed by the wires. FUNDECI/GAIA has discussed the issue of electric transmission wires with MARENA and will be seeking solutions to the risks to wildlife by this modern convenience of man. It is the least we owe our wild neighbors. After all, we live in their yard, not vice versa!

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Wildlife in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

We are actively engaged in learning about, teaching about, and protecting wild nature in Nicaragua. Our princpal focus is Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, where we have executed years of careful study of the birds, fish, and more recently, other creatures of the forests, lake and streams. Although this place is close-too close-to Granada and Masaya, which facilitates inappropriate and excessive human activity, there is still an abundance of nature here. Here we will show you some aspects of the wildlife of this area which you might not have contemplated before.

The first animal we share with you here is the White-necked Puffbird (Notharchus hyperrhynchus). It was previously considered to range from Mexico into the Amazon, but the South American birds have a smaller bill, and recently, "our" birds have been reclassified into another species, leaving the older names for the southern forms (Pied Puffbird, Notharchus tectus). It's a crazy looking bird! And a real prize for a birdwatching experience. This individual was caught by our field study group by mist nets. This species is much more common in the south-western part of the reserve, than in the northern part, reflecting that it prefers somewhat better forest quality, as the northern part is more heavily degraded.

There is a little-known crab common to Lake Apoyo, known locally as jaiba, but without an English common name: Potamocarcinus nicaraguensis. We don't know much about it, except that it tastes good! We have begun to keep counts of crabs in our transects in the long-term flora and fauna monitoring project we conduct in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. We see one or two crabs on most of our SCUBA dives in the lake. Locals eat it and it appears to survive the low levels of harvesting pressure well enough. We have recently found it in one of the small streams that flows year round into Lake Apoyo. These crabs are important to consider in aquatic conservation in Laguna de Apoyo and its tributary streams.

A lacustrine crab, Potamocarcinus nicaraguensis. Photo by Balasz Lerner.

Butterflies abound here. We have been observing the butterflies a few years, and already have one scientific publication in which a few dozen new species for Nicaragua were documented. Today, we are focussing on the butterflies that feed on fruits, in a quantitative study of the effects of land use by man on the butterfly communities. Most of the butterflies we observe in this study are from a single family, Nymphalidae. However, we continue to watch and admire all the other ones. The next two pictures were taken of a freshly emerged individual from its coccoon. The wings were beautiful but had not yet taken flight.  

Photo by Rachel Lauwerijssen.

Photo by Rachel Lauwerijssen

As a generality which holds quite well taxonomically in this region, we call those of the order (Lepidoptera) which fly in the daytime, butterflies, and those which fly at night, moths. Among the several distinctive features of moths is the antenna which are not clubbed, as in the butterflies, but a variety of other structures such as feathered or segmented. Moths are usually less distinctly colored and patterned than the diurnal butterflies, but there are some beautiful features to them, and in some cases, they can be surprisingly beautiful.

Photo by Pablo Somarriba.

Photo by Pablo Somarriba.

White-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) occupy only a few sites in the reserve. There are few, because of poaching for the pet trade, and those still here are wary. Monkeys are not pets! Please do not support the trafficking of wild animals.
We have recently noticed the capuchins in new places in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. The populations here, like in other parts of Nicaragua, have been decimated by the pet trade. But, it appears that our monkeys in Apoyo are making a small comeback. Here, one looks down on us as we are catching birds by mist netting.

Photo by Lukas Betthausen.

The Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata) is more abundant than in past years in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, thanks to the increased vigilance of park guards against tree cutting, forest fires, and hunting. We are monitoring monkey populations in the reserve, and we need volunteers and interns to help us. Please contact us if you would like to do some monkey-watching.

Photo by Mark de Graaf.

These photos were all taken in the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, by amateur photographers. They demonstrate how beatiful the area is, why we think is one of the leading sites for wildlife photography and nature tourism in Nicaragua, and hopefully, contribute to convincing the leaders here to protect it. We need your help. Our studies of the wildlife and projects in repairing the broken forest require money and volunteers. Can you help us at Estacion Biologica? Please write us.

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Howler monkey photography by Mark de Graaf

These photos of a howler monkey family were taken in the yard of Estacion Biologica in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua, by a student of the Laguna de Apoyo Spanish School, Mark de Graaf. Thank you, Mark!

Estacion Biologica is executing a study of monkey populations in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. We need volunteers, students, and scientists. Would you like to participate? Please let us know.

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Howler monkeys in Estacion Biologica

The population of howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve has increased significantly in the past ten years, thanks to increased levels of enforcement, environmental education and conservation activities in the reserve. In particular, the forest found on the north side of the reserve, where Estacion Biologica is located, has improved considerably during this period. Here we present a video taken in the yard of Estacion Biologica, produced by David McKnight, where you can see the monkeys eating fig leaves and unripe olives.

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The staff of FUNDECI/GAIA is monitoring the populations of monkeys in the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve since 2008. There are two species found in the reserve: the mantled howler monkey, and the white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus), which is found in only limited sections of the reserve.

A female mantled howler monkey cares for her baby high in a Cecropia tree in the yard of Estacion Biologica. Photo by Lu Davidson.

Mantled howler monkeys are often seen relaxing during the day. Photo by Lu Davidson.

Would you like to help us protect the monkeys of Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve? Please contact us. We need donations, volunteers, publicity, and good will! Contact us here.

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Baby howler monkey dies in Laguna de Apoyo II

In continuation of the previous blog, this baby mantled howler monkey apparently died from a fall not provoked by humans, although we constantly observe people throwing rocks at monkeys in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. We need more volunteers, researchers, park guards and strategic and tactical support for environmental education in the area to protect our local fauna. See the video below produced by David McKnight. The staff at Estacion Biologica have saved the skin from the cadaver for genetic studies. We also made a report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of Nicaragua.

Would you like to help us protect the wild nature found in Nicaragua? We need volunteers and donations. Come and help us in our studies, reforestation, and other conservation activities. Visit us in Estacion Biologica!

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