Help Save Peru’s Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey from Extinction

A baby monkey (related to the yellow-tailed) riding on his adopted father’s back in the tropical forests of northern Peru; monkey protection program run by IKAMA Peru (photo courtesy IKAMA Peru)

I could devote this entire blog to news about wildlife in Peru, where new species are discovered weekly and, conversely, where threats to native habitats have eradicated hundreds of existing species in the time that it takes to build a shopping mall.

Because I focus on daily life in Lima and climate change in the Andes, however, I have to pass up many newsworthy stories about animals in Peru. The one, however, caught my eye since it concerns one of the world’s rarest (and might I add, most adorable) mammals, which is unfortunately about to become extinct.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda). This elusive primate lives in the cloud forests of northern Peru, where there are only about 250 in existence (one group claims there are up to 1,000 of these monkeys). Regardless of the exact number, they are so rare that for nearly 50 years (1926 to 1973) not a single yellow-tailed woolly was sighted.

Then in 1974 scientists identified small groups in Cajamarca and in the Rio Alto Mayo area, where they were first recorded by Alexander von Humboldt in 1820.  Since then, their numbers have hovered at marginal levels, inspiring conservation efforts by biologists and animal protection groups. 

Now the yellow-tailed woolly monkey has been included on a list of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, reports Living in Peru:

Specialists stated that the monkey had been declared endangered because of the destruction of Peru’s  rain forests and the migration of humans to the area.

“There are currently less than 1,000 monkeys, which for a species is nothing, that’s why this monkey is just a step from extinction,” said Fanny Cornejo, a researcher at the University of San Marcos.

She pointed out that the Woolly monkey had been on the International Primatological Society’s “Most endangered species in the world” list since 2006.

At an international conference in Scotland, Cornejo stated the animal was completely helpless in Peru, thus confirming the IPS’s decision to keep the monkey among the top 25 most endangered primates.

“The main threat these animals face is the destruction of the rainforests and the migration of humans that invade the areas where they live,” said Cornejo.

Unlike the fictional Paddington Bear, who emigrated from “deepest, darkest Peru” to London’s Paddington railway station with a pea coat and a suitcase in hand, the yellow-tailed woolly monkey cannot survive outside its native habitat. Unable to adapt to life outside its native cloud forest, the yellow-tailed monkey now depends on the cooperation of humankind to preserve its habitat. Given how recklessly we humans have destroyed the rain forest in the past, that cooperation appears very fragile, unless more concerned people intercede.  

One positive move in this direction was the United States’ agreement in October 2008 to redirect $25 million of Peru’s external debt into local funds to protect the country’s tropical forests, including habitats of the Peruvian woolly monkey, reports the U.S. government.

A few facts about the yellow-tailed woolly mammal that attracted my interest:

• The monkey is part of a larger family of woolly monkeys, who are known for their long, thick fur that protects them from the cold. The yellow-tailed woolly monkey’s fur is deep reddish brown, with a yellow tint running on the underside of the tail;
• It eats fruit (particularly ficus fruit), as well as leaves, flowers and buds, and lives in the tree canopy;
• It has a prehensile tail, which it uses as a fifth arm, and can leap distances up to 15 meters;
• Yellow-tailed woollies live in polygamous, male-dominated societies, and they communicate by high, puppy-like barks.

You can help the yellow-tailed woolly monkey survive into the next century by supporting programs and groups that help endangered animals or preserve their habitats.

Some of these efforts include the EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) program and the Neotropical Primate Conservation group in Peru, which is launching a yellow-tailed woolly protection program in the Amazon to help communities fend off poachers.

Another group that is protecting yellow-tailed woolly monkeys is IKAMA Peru, which runs an animal shelter for injured animals and abandoned young. I was not able to navigate their website successfully in a language other than French, but I did find a useful link to an English-language site associated with IKAMA where people can “adopt” a rescued baby monkey online.

A motherless baby monkey (born Sept. 2008) was brought to the shelter and is currently seeking sponsorship, notes the site:

Tingkishap is a male baby woolly monkey. When he arrived at our shelter after we confiscated it he was very small, very stressed and cried all day long. Now he is in Tarangue and goes out to the forest with the whole group of adults who love him. Tingkishap was adopted by Chayu, the alpha male of this group.

One of the online photos shows Tingkishap riding on Chayu’s back(see above).

Click here to learn more and to donate to the effort.

Parents can download a coloring page of the yellow-tailed here for their children to fill in.