Species Use Database

Sun-tailed monkey, Black spider monkey
Allochrocebus solatus

Used for Food and feed and Keeping/companionship/display in Gabon

A. Species

Scientific name: Allochrocebus solatus

Common name(s): Sun-tailed monkey, Black spider monkey

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Near Threatened


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Gabon

Country/Region: Gabon / multiple rural areas


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State

Name/Details of location: Samples collated and analysed at the Centre International de Recherches Médicale de Franceville (Gabon)


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2009

End Year: 2009


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed and Keeping/companionship/display

Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Use non-viable due to high zoonotic disease risk.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Of the 78 humans, mostly hunters, who had been bitten or scratched by NHPs, 19 were SFV (Simian Foamy Virus) seropositive, with 15 cases confirmed by PCR. All but one were infected with ape SFV. Therefore, societal use of these monkeys is unsustainable.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Of the 78 humans, mostly hunters, who had been bitten or scratched by NHPs, 19 were SFV (Simian Foamy Virus) seropositive, with 15 cases confirmed by PCR. All but one were infected with ape SFV.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Monkeys are clearly distressed enough to bite and scratch handlers / hunters.


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

Further examination of humans infected by SFV is ongoing in both central Africa and Southeast Asia to investigate interhuman transmission in familial studies and the morbidity and mortality that might be associated with this zoonotic infection, especially in people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Mouinga-Ondémé, A., Caron, M., Nkoghé, D., Telfer, P., Marx, P., Saïb, A., Leroy, E., Gonzalez, J.P., Gessain, A. and Kazanji, M., 2012. Cross-species transmission of simian foamy virus to humans in rural Gabon, Central Africa. Journal of virology, 86(2), pp.1255-1260.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.06016-11

Date of record entry: 2022-11-23