Methods for capturing wild squirrel monkeys in a floodplain forest: A comparison of two techniques and two species

Abstract

Field studies of primates often require the capture and marking of individuals in order to monitor behavior, health and population parameters. However, there have been few field studies in which squirrel monkeys (genus Saimiri) have been successfully captured. Here we report results obtained using two different trapping methods to capture Saimiri vanzolinii and S. cassiquiarensis in Central Amazonia, Brazil. We constructed 20 trapping stations, each one consisting of a platform containing a pair of Tomahawk traps, which were monitored by camera traps and baited with half a bunch of bananas, daily (at 6:00h and removed at 17:00h), during three months preceding the capture. We captured eight individuals of S. vanzolinii in two stations during five days (capture rate of 1.6 individuals/day). We were unable to capture individuals of S. cassiquiarensis using the Tomahawk traps; thus, we manually captured the individuals while they were foraging on the ground. To capture them, these individuals were first corralled and then captured with dip nets and leather gloves. We captured twelve individuals in seven days (capture rate of 1.7 individuals/day). We believe that both of these methods can be used for trapping squirrel monkeys, since they take into account the foraging strategies of the species, use of space, the presence of other competitive species such as capuchin monkeys, and the ecological features of the study area.