A field protocol for the capture and release of callitrichids

Authors

  • Mrinalini Watsa Field Projects International, Department of Research, 4041 Fairview Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63116, USA
  • Gideon Erkenswick Field Projects International, Department of Research, 4041 Fairview Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63116, USA
  • Deirdre Halloran Cornell University, Veterinary Medicine, 965 Dryden Road Ithaca, 14853 NY, USA
  • Erin E. Kane Department of Anthropology, 4034 Smith Laboratory, 174 W 18th Street, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
  • Alice Poirier Anglia Ruskin University, Department of Life Sciences, David Building, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK
  • Karina Klonoski University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Berkeley, CA 947720,, USA
  • Santiago Cassalett The City University of New York, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA
  • Elizabeth Maciag University Center Peterborough, Department of Biomedical and Forensic Sciences, Park Crescent, Peterborough PE1 4DZ, UK
  • Mihnea R. Mangalea University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
  • Mary P. Dinsmore University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biology, Department of Environment and Resources, USA
  • Holly McCready Oregon Health Sciences University, Department of Psychiatry, USA
  • Breanne K. Boughan University of Missouri Columbia, Department of Anthropology, USA
  • Chelsea Parker Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
  • Alexana Hickmott University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Anthropology, USA
  • Inés Esperanza Nole Bazan Universidad Nacional de San Marcos, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Lima, Perú
  • Alfonso Zuñiga World Wildlife Fund, Proyecto Areas Amazonia, Madre de Dios, Peru

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62015/np.2015.v22.138

Keywords:

Trapping, Callitrichidae, capture, Peru

Abstract

While primate trapping is a widely used field methodology, there are substantial health, safety and social risks to handling wild primates, necessitating sharing of best-practice methods to minimize such risks. Yet, comprehensive capture-and-release protocols are rarely published, and updated even less frequently, despite advances that significantly elevate animal safety. Here, we propose a modified capture and release protocol for small primates and demonstrate its effectiveness on free-ranging populations of Saguinus weddelli (the saddleback tamarin) and Saguinus imperator (the emperor tamarin) in southeastern Peru. This study was conducted over seven years, from 2009 to 2015, and resulted in 346 capture instances with recaptures of the same individuals over years. We present a modified trap design that is lighter, locally produced, easy to set up and maintain, and is safer for animals. We provide data on how a ‘caller animal’ may dramatically increase the success of a new trapping program, but is not necessary on an ongoing basis. We also propose a conversion from previously used single-step anesthetization methods, which are more likely to result in loss of habituation or potential injury, to a novel dual-phase anesthetization process with no delays in processing times or increases in the amount of anesthetic administered. We discuss modifications to traditional trapping strategies that decrease distress to the animals before, during and after trapping. This method ensures high recapture rates and sustained animal habituation to trap sites and observers while also prioritizing animal safety.

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Published

2015-12-01

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Section

Articles

How to Cite

Watsa, M., Erkenswick, G., Halloran, D., Kane, E. E., Poirier, A., Klonoski, K., Cassalett, S., Maciag, E., Mangalea, M. R., Dinsmore, M. P., McCready, H., Boughan, B. K., Parker, C., Hickmott, A., Bazan, I. E. N., & Zuñiga, A. (2015). A field protocol for the capture and release of callitrichids. Neotropical Primates, 22(2), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.62015/np.2015.v22.138