Oreonax flavicauda (Humboldt, 1812)

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Atelidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 484-549 : 547

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Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey

Oreonax flavicauda

French: Lagotriche a queue jaune / German: Gelbschwanz-Wollaffe / Spanish: Mono lanudo de cola amarilla Other common names: Hendee's Woolly Monkey, Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey

Taxonomy. Simia flavicauda Humboldt, 1812 ,

Peru, banks of the Amazon. Restricted byJ. Fooden in 1963 to Puca Tambo, 1550 m, 80 km east of Chachapoyas, San Martin.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. N Peru in a few scattered locations on the E slopes of the Andes, along the Maranon-Huallaga divide, mainly confined to Amazonas and San Martin regions, but also in small areas of Huanuco and La Libertad regions.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 40-54 cm, tail 56-63 cm; weight 8-3-10 kg (males) and 5-7 kg (females). Pelage of the Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is notably long and thick (particularly on legs), giving the body a robust, muscular look. It is normally a deep mahogany or coppery color, although darker on the lower back, nape, and extremities. A yellow band runs beneath the last one-half of the tail around the callous. There is a buffy triangular patch on the nose, with the apex between the eyes. The face is otherwise brown. Limbs are relatively short. Males have significantly longer canines than females; they also have a tuft of yellowish or brownish fur on the scrotum. Females have a smaller tuft around the vulva, with a clitoris that is as long as or longer than the penis. As in spider monkeys ( Ateles ),juvenile females can be differentiated by observing the clitoris.

Habitat. Steep primary pre-montane and montane cloud forest in rugged terrain at elevations of 1400-2700 m, where there are deep gorges and ravines. Peruvian Yellowtailed Woolly Monkeys can survive in regenerating secondary forest if human disturbance is minimal. Regional temperatures are 4-25°C, with high humidity. They spend most of their time in the canopy and subcanopy.

Food and Feeding. Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys feed primarily on ripe fruits, along with young leaves, flowers, lichens, leaf bases of bromeliads, epiphyte roots and bulbs, and possibly some arthropods. They infrequently raid maize crops.

Breeding. A single offspring is born every 3-5 years after a gestation of ¢.7-5 months. Young lack the yellow tail band and the pubic tuft of the adults. Both sexes reach full maturity at ¢.8 years of age, although successful reproduction may take place long before that. Infants are seen in groups throughout the year, but births peak in the wet season.

Activity patterns. In a study at La Esperanza, a 700-ha disturbed forest west of the Rio Imaza, three groups of Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys studied for 15 months had the following activity budget: 29% of the day traveling, 29-8% feeding, 26-2% resting, 2:3% engaged in social activities, and 12-7% engaged in other activities. Adult females and females with infants spent more time feeding than males or juveniles. Females with infants spent the least time resting, and juveniles spent the most time engaged in social activities such as play.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys live in multimale-multifemale groups of three to more than 20 individuals. Densities at La Esperanza were 8-3-9-3 ind/km?® in 2008-2009, and group sizes averaged 8-9 individuals, with 1-3 adult males, 1-6 adult females, and 0-6 juveniles and infants. Lone males have been observed. They usually forage in smaller groups. A group of eleven individuals had a home range of 69 ha.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey is one of the world’s rarest mammals. Until the 1950s, the remoteness of its small remaining habitat afforded some protection, but since then much of it has been destroyed due to policies that promoted colonization through road building and the establishment of human settlements during the 1960s and 1970s. The area where it occurs has the highest rate of human immigration and deforestation of the entire country, and its habitat is greatly fragmented and disturbed due to clearance for agriculture and cattle ranching. It appears to be highly sensitive to alterations in its habitat, and group sizes today are probably unnaturally small because of hunting. Only a tiny population survives today. In 2009, only ¢.2000 km* of suitable habitat for the Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey remained, and it has probably been extirpated from much of the area because of hunting. In 2012, the population was estimated at no more than 1000 mature individuals. Despiteits legal protection,itis still hunted by local communities for sport, and its meat and fur. Mothers are also shot so that infants can be taken and sold as pets, although they usually do not survive. Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys are also persecuted for their alleged damage to crops. It occurs in five national protected areas: Rio Abiseo National Park, Alto Mayo Protected Forest, Cordillera de Colan National Sanctuary, Chayu Nain Communal Reserve, and Rio Nieva Reserved Zone. It also occurs in complementary protected areas: the conservation concessions of Alto Huayabamba and Abra Patricia, Private Area of Conservation Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva, Private Area of Conservation Hierba Buena-Allpayacu, and Huamanpata Conservation Area. Although there are many protected areas where Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkeys occur, populations are small, and long-term management plans are needed to ensure their ongoing viability.

Bibliography. Aquino & Encarnacion (1994b), Butchart et al. (1995), Cornejo et al. (2009), DelLuycker (2007a), Deluycker & Heymann (2007), Graves & O'Neill (1980), Groves (2001), Luna (1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989), de Macedo-Ruiz & Mittermeier (1979), Mittermeier, de Macedo-Ruiz & Luscombe (1975), Mittermeier, de Macedo-Ruiz, Luscombe & Cassidy (1977), Parker & Barkley (1981), Rios & Ponce del Prado (1989), Shanee (2011), Shanee & Shanee (2011a, 2011b), Shanee et al. (2007), Thomas (1927).

Figures

On following pages 21 Gray Woo ly Monkey (Lagothnx cana) 22 Poeopıg s Woolly Monkey (Layothnx poøpplgll) 23 Pefuvıan Yellow taıled Woolly Monkey (Oreonıx Ilavıaıuda) 24 Southern Munquı (Brachyreles ııachnoıdes) 25 Nonhem Munqu (Brachyteles hypoxanthusl

Distribution. N Peru in a few scattered locations on the E slopes of the Andes, along the Maranon-Huallaga divide, mainly confined to Amazonas and San Martin regions, but also in small areas of Huanuco and La Libertad regions.