Brown howler monkeys are dropping dead by the dozens in southern Mexico. At least 138 people died between May 4 and May 21. Most of the deaths happened in places where temperatures were above 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit).
Before perishing, the animals suffered convulsions, hyperthermia, and fainting, which are symptoms of dehydration. Responding to the disaster, groups say that heat stroke seems to be the main cause of death, but they haven’t ruled out other possibilities. Deaths have been reported across the state of Tabasco.
A wildlife biologist at the Institute of Ecology in Xalapa named Gilberto Pozo says, “The work team feels sad and hurt.” He was one of the first to witness and document the current catastrophe. Pozo talks about recent efforts to protect the species and says, “It hurts because all the work we’ve put in for years is going to waste.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature calls brown howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana) “vulnerable” because their numbers are dropping and they only live in the southern states of Mexico. They have short fur.
Pozo has been studying primates for 22 years. He works to protect endangered species and is the head of the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Usumacinta (Cobius) group, a non-profit that has been working with communities in the area for 13 years.
As part of a rescue and relocation program, a Cobius team went to see a group of howler monkeys in Cunduacán, Tabasco, in early May. The area has changed a lot in recent years, which has put the monkeys in danger. During fieldwork, the team saw two monkeys fall from 15-meter-high trees. Despite receiving attention, both died from their falls and showed signs of dehydration. The next day, local people came to leave aerial drinkers and tropical fruits for the primates. Most Popular.
Days later, the team visited the Saraguatos Biopark. There they found five dead monkeys and eight with problems. The team decided to keep an eye on things for longer and found more deaths. They told Mexico’s environmental protection agency, Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (Profepa). Different groups found dead monkeys in Comalcalco and Jalpa, also in the state of Tabasco. It was quickly clear how bad the problem was.
The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico says that they are looking into a number of possible causes for the monkeys’ deaths. These include heat stroke and dehydration, but also “malnutrition or fumigation, or spraying of crops with toxic agrochemicals.” “One of the animals has been put to rest for the first time, but Pozo says that molecular analyses of the animal are still missing at this point.” “The doctor in charge does not want to rule out either heat stroke or viral issues,” he says. More tests will follow.
Brown howler monkeys are one of three native species of monkeys in Mexico. They live in parts of Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan states, as well as in Guatemala and Belize, which are close by. The monkeys sometimes eat flowers and fruits, but mostly they eat leaves. Leaves are 80 percent of their diet, and the monkeys get water from them. Because of this, if the leaves the animals eat are dry, they don’t drink much water, leaving them open to the effects of high temperatures.
Pozo has witnessed monkeys showing the effects of moderate and severe dehydration. In moderate cases, he explains, the animals show signs of apathy, prostration, poor coordination, and slow movements. These animals also have swollen mucous membranes, fast heart rates, and body temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. They also vomit, pant, have diarrhea, salivate a lot, and tremble their muscles. In severe cases, the monkeys suffer convulsions, irregular heartbeats, fainting, and have no resistance to manipulation. “They become like little dolls,” Pozo says. Most Popular.
There is a group called Transdisciplinary Studies Group in Primatology that Tania Fonseca works for at Mexico’s Institute of Ecology (Inecol). Her work with howler monkeys is inspiring because of how strong they are—”until these days, when everything is broken,” she says.
He says that if heat stroke is the cause of death, it will be possible to prove it through tissue analysis. If that’s the case, she says, it’s important to keep an eye on live animals that have been in the heat because their organs and tissues may be damaged.
As funny as the mental image may be, seeing a monkey literally fall out of a tree is no laughing matter. For monkeys and humans alike, understanding why primates sometimes take dangerous tumbles can help prevent these distressing accidents.
Monkeys are highly agile creatures well adapted to living in trees. However, various circumstances can still cause them to lose their grip and plummet down, often resulting in injury or even death. What leads to these harrowing falls?
Why Monkeys Fall
There are several potential reasons a monkey might fall from the tree canopy
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Fatigue – Monkeys can simply become exhausted from constant climbing and movement in the treetops. Muscles tire and the monkey slips.
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Sickness – Illnesses that cause weakness, disorientation or seizures can make monkeys prone to falling
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Heat – Excessive heat stresses monkeys and makes them lethargic, less coordinated. Dehydration from lack of water also plays a role.
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Age – Elderly monkeys with poorer vision, osteoarthritis and slower reflexes fall more frequently.
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Injury – Previous injuries even minor ones can impair mobility and cause future falls.
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Fighting – Battles with rivals can lead to monkeys being physically knocked from trees.
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Predators – Attempting to flee from hawks, snakes and other predators may lead to hurried falls.
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Deforestation – Loss of habitat and continuous canopy makes falls more likely even for healthy monkeys.
No matter the cause, falls from the treetops 20-50 feet high often seriously injure monkeys. However, there are ways to help prevent these distressing accidents.
Preventing Monkey Falls
For animal caretakers and those involved in conservation, actions can be taken to protect arboreal monkeys from potentially fatal falls:
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Provide water sources in habitats to prevent heat exhaustion and dehydration.
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Offer fruit/nut supplementation to compensate for reduced food from deforestation.
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Monitor monkey social groups for fighting and intervene if needed.
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Limit tree harvesting and plant newgrowth to maintain canopy coverage.
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Track and observe elderly monkeys who may need closer care.
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Quarantine and treat sick monkeys to resolve issues like seizures.
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Create canopy rope bridges between trees to avoid risky long jumps.
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Provide shelter and enclosed sleeping platforms high in trees.
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Allow ample spacing and territory to minimize conflicts between rival groups.
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Rescue and rehabilitate injured monkeys who survived falls.
With thoughtfulness and care, caretakers can design safer habitats to allow monkeys to continue displaying their amazing arboreal acrobatics. Keeping monkeys healthy, well fed, and secure in the trees will go a long way towards preventing terrifying falls. We can help protect these amazing primates as they swing spectacularly through the forest canopy where they belong.
Trouble Down on the Farm
The average annual temperature in Tabasco is 27 degrees Celsius (80 F). May tends to be the hottest month, with an average maximum of 36 degrees. However, temperatures this season are particularly high, having soared well beyond 40 degrees (104 F).
But besides the high temperatures, changes to the landscape are also to blame, says Bertha Valenzuela, who was born and raised in Comalcalco, Tabasco. Valenzuela has been studying primates for 15 years and says she grew up among monkeys. She remembers them always hanging around her grandmothers house.
Most of the Tabascos monkeys live in the Chontalpa region, which has only 3% of its original forest area left. A lot of the land has been turned into farms. In particular, it is an important cacao-growing area, with more than 3,000 producers. In some places, cacao is grown in single-stemmed plants, but here, farmers use agroforestry systems, which include trees that provide shade for the cacao plants below and a mix of crops and native species. The forest canopy, which is the top part of the trees where the monkeys live, is lower in the plantations than it was in the original ecosystem. The understory, which is the bottom part of the forest, is also cut down to make room for crops.
The howler monkeys found places to live that were good enough for them to stay alive, even though they weren’t the best, according to Valenzuela. The animals have lived in the plantations for thirty years, but they have had a hard time as the land has changed again in recent years. Most Popular.
Plant diseases and falling prices in the area have made cacao production go down since the 2000s. As a result, many people have turned their cacao farms into pasture. Valenzuela says this means that across from each cacao grove, there are now pastures, fields for farming, or places where people live. With the fragmentation of the monkeys’ habitat, temperature regulation is not homogeneous. The smaller a fragment of forest is, the more heat it receives from its surroundings. Land-use change is compounding the effects of global heating.
A Mess of Good Intentions
Gilberto Pozo says that the first people who helped out were like “a sea of people helping out”—a mess, but no one was trying to be bad. “There were more than 150 volunteers. If it wasn’t for the support of the population, it would be difficult,” he says.
But some people took the monkeys to clinics without registering them or telling the authorities, so Profepa is now going to clinics to gather information. Pozo is also worried about volunteers or the primates catching diseases from one another. “They grabbed them, approached them without masks or gloves, hugged them, kissed them, talked to them. That represents a high risk of zoonosis or anthropozoonosis. ”.
Additionally, weak monkeys might be harmed, says Ana María Santillán, founder of the Centro Mexicano de Rehabilitación de Primates, a group that helps monkeys who have been abused or sold illegally as pets. As civilians, people should not move a specimen, because it is illegal, she says. “It was a blessing that Profepa got involved,” she adds. Even so, her group has found orphaned juvenile monkeys for sale.
To manage the situation, says Santillán, the civil organizations involved have formed specialized brigades, coordinated by Cobius. One is dedicated to recovering dead or dying animals. Another group takes care of the monkeys and is made up of veterinarians from Profepa in Tabasco and Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT). Some of them are trained to work with primates. Another brigade is to perform necropsies. Gilberto Pozo says that setting up two medical units to help animals in need has been one of the most important things that have been done. Most Popular.
People who have monkeys should take them to the brigade units so that veterinarians can keep track of any animals that are sick. The experts have asked that people report any new cases to the authorities. The response teams also stress how fragile the species is: they shouldn’t be given antibiotics or dewormers, people shouldn’t keep any babies, and monkeys shouldn’t be around dogs or cats because they could get diseases that are fatal to them.
Monkey Smells Finger and Falls Out of Tree
What happens if a new born monkey falls from a tree?
Break Heart, Just New Born Monkey Fall From The Tree Near Unconscious. Deep pity for new born baby monkey that hold mother climb up the tree but on that time it fall down about 5 meter high. New mother monkey may no experience to take care baby because she careless about new born monkey and make a mistake for baby fall down from the tree.
Did a mantle monkey fall from a tree in Cunduacán?
Luis Sanchez/Associated Press Gilberto Pozo, a biologist, was monitoring a small forest in the town of Cunduacán, in southern Mexico, in early May when two mantled howler monkeys fell from a tree in front of him with a thud. “They were dehydrated and received treatment,” he said. “But they didn’t survive.”
Why does a new mother monkey not take care of baby?
New mother monkey may no experience to take care baby because she careless about new born monkey and make a mistake for baby fall down from the tree. New born monkey crying loudly because it feel hungry and it afraid fall from mother holding. Break Heart, Just New Born Monkey Fall From The Tree Near Unconscious.
How many mantled howler monkeys have died in Mexico?
Residents were finding groups of 10 or more dead at a time, many also showing signs of dehydration. As of Wednesday, 147 monkeys have died in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas in southern Mexico. The deaths of dozens of mantled howler monkeys in Mexico may be the latest sign of the danger extreme temperatures pose to wildlife around the world.