Notes on the Yellow-Tailed Woolly Monkey (Oreonax flavicauda) and Its Status in the Protected Forest of Alto Mayo, Northern Peru

Abstract

Abstract: Populations of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda) persist in increasingly isolated, threatened cloud forests in scattered areas of the departments of San Martin and Amazonas, in northern Peru. No long-term research has been conducted on this species in more than 20 years. The range of O. flavicauda continues to suffer rapid and widespread deforestation. From June to August 2004,I was involved in selecting a site for an extended study of its behavior and ecology. Here I document the species' continued existence and status in the Bosque de Proteccion (Protected Forest) of Alto Mayo. Three sightings of O. flavicauda provided a group size of 17–20 individuals—higher than previous sightings by Mariela Leo Luna in the early 1980s, who observed an average group size of nine. The difficulty we encountered in finding groups in the study area suggests that yellowtailed woolly monkeys have a large home range. This and its large body size, low density, low reproductive rate, its restrictio...