Present status and trends of “ex situ” Cercopithecinae monkey populations worldwide

Abstract

Primates are one of the most threatened mammalian taxa and are also one of the most commonly exhibited in zoological gardens. The information from the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) was used to provide an overview of the species of Primates belonging to the subfamily Cercopithecinae currently held in zoos. A total of 56 species (71.79 %) are kept in ZIMS institutions. Of these, 27 (48.31 %) are threatened. Zoos do not show any preference in keeping threatened species or non-threatened ones. In the case of threatened species, only five of them are represented by more than 200 individuals while the non-threatened ones are nine. In the past 12 months, 17 non-threatened species and 16 threatened ones managed to breed. At a regional level, Asia, Europe, and North America have the highest number of species however the highest number of individuals is found in European zoos which also have a higher rate of threatened individuals to non-threatened ones. The population trends of the last 20 years indicate that Europe has the highest number of increased threatened populations (10) followed by Asia (eight) and North America (four). The latter features the highest number of increased non-threatened populations (11). Europe has the highest number of decreased threatened and non-threatened populations (16 and 17) whilst North America lost the highest number of species in the last 20 years. The analysis indicates that European zoos are at the forefront of the ex situ conservation of threatened Cercopithecinae. Although trends in zoo design and philosophy make unlikely a future increase of space for threatened cercopithecids, a better integration of conservation priorities in zoos’ master planning process may arrest the decline of space available to threatened taxa.