A field protocol for the capture and release of callitrichids

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.