The direct impact of viewing by tourists consists
of some disturbance of the monkeys, including cases of
taunting. Indirect impacts are a revival of the capture of
monkeys for pets and loss of habitat due to expansion of
tourism infrastructure.
Population Trend
Unknown/not recorded
Sub-national Level
Unknown/not recorded
Additional Details (if available)
The major threat to this species across its range is habitat loss, primarily due to agriculture and logging. In Panama, some specific threats are deforestation for farming, cattle ranching, teak plantations, palm oil plantations, urban investments, hydroelectric and other industrial activities. Other threats are the use of herbicides and live capture for the pet trade (Miranda-Jiménez and Méndez-Carvajal 2012a). In Costa Rica, Solano (2007) reported five main threats to the conservation of Squirrel Monkeys besides forest fragmentation and habitat loss.
Crops such as maize (Zea mays), bananas (Musa spp.) and lychees (Nephelium lappaceum), due to the local inhabitants considering the monkeys a pest and then acting accordingly;
Exotic plantations such as palm oil (Elais guineensis) and teak and grey teak (Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea); (note: the teak plantations are a threat as it is cut down and then squirrel monkeys can't connect to other areas)
Pet trade, this is not very common in the whole range for this subspecies and more common in the border with Panama, but some rescue centres report new arrivals on the birth season apparently from captured monkeys;
Electrical wires, there are several spots where monkeys are found dead due to electrical wires contact;
Hunting dogs, and dogs in general, some dead squirrel monkeys were reported attacked and dead by hunting dogs and less commonly by domestic dogs unattended.
Are specific characteristics/traits being targeted?
Unknown/not recorded
Purpose of Use
Income generation from trade at individual or household or community
Recreational
Additional Details (if available)
The monkeys, are a popular tourist attraction. In 1988, it
was determined that 75% of the tourists that visit Manuel
Antonio do so to observe nature: mainly animals,
including the squirrel monkey.
What is the main end use for any living organisms, parts or products taken/extracted?
If more than one box ticked, please provide more details
No detail provided of specific users other than the general category of tourism. In 1988, it was determined that 75% of the tourists that visit Manuel
Antonio do so to observe nature: mainly animals, including the squirrel monkey.
Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE
Yes – use is negatively affecting the status (e.g., population is declining; extraction effort is increasing)
Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?
Unknown/not reported
Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species
Unknown/not recorded
Yes, negative (e.g., it destroys/ degrades it due to over-use)
Additional Details (if available)
The annual number of visitors to Manuel Antonio rose from 25,000 in 1982 to 192,000 in 1992. In response to this growth, land owners around the park began building hotels, restaurants, and other facilities. In spite of the importance of the remaining forest patches, their destruction has been accelerated due to the development of wildlife tourism.
Details of assessment carried out
Tourism's use of the squirrel monkey is reducing the long term viability of the subspecies. It is doing so not through the direct impact of the use per se (that is,
viewing of the monkeys by tourists) but indirectly through the loss of habitat to tourism infrastructure.
Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded
Most of the capital for tourism comes from outsiders, who receive most of the
industry's economic rewards: 60% of the infrastructure has been developed with foreign capital; and only 2% of the income from tourism goes back to the local
community.
Has the use of the species been recorded as resulting in changes to human health in this record?
Unknown/not recorded
Has the species in use been noted as being of particular disease risk to humans?
Unknown/not recorded
Has the use of the species resulted in changes to animal welfare in this record?
Unknown/not recorded
Are there particular practices which have increased the risk to human or animal health or welfare in the use of this species?
Unknown/not recorded
Does the use of this species increase susceptibility to pathogen spread?
Unknown/not recorded
Unknown/not recorded
Strong community governance/institutions/rights for wildlife management
Absent
Supportive policy and legislative framework
Absent
Adequate capacity to implement and enforce governance arrangements
Absent
Good alignment of legal protections with local cultural values and traditional
Absent
Support from NGOs
Absent
Support from Government
Absent
High financial returns from use
Absent
Abundant population of target species
Absent
Biological characteristics of target species
Absent
Capacity building of community
Absent
Establishment and implementation of species and/or area management plan
Absent
Effective private sector approach engagement through certification
Prescott-Allen, Robert, and Prescott-Allen, Christine (Eds.) (1996). Assessing the Sustainability of Uses of Wild Species - Case Studies and Initial Assessment Procedure. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. pp. iv + 135. Authors of case study: Grace Wong and Eduardo Carhllo
Tourism has a direct impact on the squirrel monkeys, through the effects that visitors have on the groups they observe, and the revival of the capture of monkeys for sale as pets. It also has an indirect impact, by reducing the monkey's habitat and isolating groups from each other. Tourism's use of the squirrel monkey is reducing the long term viability of the subspecies. It is doing so not through the direct impact of the use per se (that is, viewing of the monkeys by tourists) but indirectly through the loss of habitat to tourism infrastructure.
Threats/pressures impacting the species at the scale of this record
Is there any gender/age specificity in the various roles
Unknown/not recorded
How many of these local jobs accure to the following categories?
How many people outside the local area are employed
Is there any evidence of other economic benefits associated with this use beyond direct income and jobs
Unknown/Not recorded
In Costa Rica, the squirrel monkey has been declared
an endangered species. The law punishes direct
(consumptive) use of the species but not indirect impacts e.g., through habitat destruction. In particular, current laws cannot cope with the cumulative effects of individual property developments.