Primate

  Conservation

Inc.    

UPDATE    2003

An infant Andean Titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe)

A Peruvian hunter in a tree stand by a water hole

            In October of 2002, I was walking with the owner in a privately owned forest listening and looking for titi monkeys. One of the techniques used for surveying these primates is to play a recording of their call to see if they call in response. Researchers hypothesize that the titi responds to what they perceive to be another titi in their territory. That morning I played a recording once. Within two minutes four hunting dogs and two hunters appeared ready to shoot a titi monkey.

            It was only where people are actively studying the forest and the monkeys that I was able to see several species of monkeys. PCI believes that research and conservation go hand in hand. When someone is given a grant to study a particular primate, they help protect it. With over a 100 threatened or endangered primates in the world more people need to be actively involved in conservation. Your support of PCI helps us get dedicated people into the field to study and protect these endangered or little known primates.

            A postscript to the above story about the search for the Andean titi monkey, after a week of looking for them in the Rio Mayo valley of Peru near Moyobamba, which is the only place they are known to inhabit, I heard several groups of them on the last morning. The photographs I you see were taken of a family group being held in a tiny cage.  The male, female and infant were being sold for the equivalent of ten U.S. dollars. In this region of Peru a lot of conservation work needs to be done. None of the local people I meet knew this species was rare and occurred in only their province. PCI has awarded a matching grant to Melissa Mark from the State University of New York at Stony Brook to do an extended survey of the Andean titi starting in June.

            PCI Grantees in the Media

            Several articles have appeared recently in popular magazines by or about people who have received grants from PCI. On our web site www.primate.org, there is a list of over 100 scientific and other publications written by PCI grantees.

            National Geographic, April 2003 (pages, 90-103) “Jane in the Forest Again” by David Quammen is about Jane Goodall’s visit to the Goualougo forest in Congo where Dave Morgan and Cricket Sanz are studying chimpanzees that are unafraid of humans because they have never been hunted. Dave Morgan and Cricket Sanz received a PCI grant in the spring of 2002.

            Natural History, February, 2002 “Slender in the Night” (pages, 55-59) by K. A. I. Nekaris is about her studies of nocturnal slender lorises of India and Sri Lanka. Dr. Nekaris was given a PCI grant in 1997 to study in India for her thesis and a different grant in 2001 to study lorises in Sri Lanka.

            SWARA The Magazine of the East African Wildlife Society, January- April 2002 Vol. 25:1 (pages, 36-38) “Changing Its Ways” by Juli Wieczkowski about her study of the Tana River crested mangabey’s response to the environmental changes brought about by people cutting the only forests this monkey inhabits. Juli Wieczkowski received a small grant to study in Kenya in
December,1997 and a renewal grant in May, 1999.

            World Rivers Review, April, 2002 (page, 11) “Na Hang Dam Threatens Forest, People and Wildlife” by Chris Lang is about the dam being built in Na Hang, Vietnam which will destroy 220 hectares out of the 1000 hectare Na Hang Nature Reserve which is home to 1 of the 3 remnant populations of the critically endangered Tonkin snub nosed monkey. PCI has supported Tonkin snub nosed monkey project which is directed by Bettina Martin with several grants since 1998. This dam and the care and feeding of the 10,000 workers that are building the dam, increase the threats to this critically endangered species.

         About PCI

PCI is an all-volunteer, tax deductible private operating 501 (c)(3) foundation. Since our first grant in 1993 we have supported with full, partial, or renewal funding 190 projects in 27 countries with primate habitats. Projects in Asia have received 40% of our funding, African projects 31%, Madagascar 21%, and South America 8%. Grants have gone to study leaf monkeys (25%), apes (22%), lemurs (21%), cheek pouch monkeys (14%), prosimians (6%), new world monkeys (8%) and tarsiers (3%). For a complete list of grants please look at our web site.

In order to keep our overhead to a minimum, so that as much of the money raised is used to support field conservation projects; we only send one newsletter per year. This is our annual appeal for your donations. You will not receive other mail from us nor will we share your name with others. We appreciate your support.

If you would like to contribute cash, stock or real estate to PCI or would like more information on a specific project please contact me at the address below.