A conservation program for the yellow-breasted capuchin monkey, Cebus apella xanthosternos

Abstract

The yellow-breasted capuchin is one of the four currently recognized subspecies of the tufted, or brown, capuchin monkeys which occur in central, northeastern and southeastern Brazil. It is a phenotypically and genetically distinct animal (Seudnez et al.,1986; Matayoshi ef al.,1987) and, depending on a taxonomic revision of the genus, may well be considered a valid species. It quite evidently had a widespread distribution in the past, east and south of the Rio Sao Francisco, east as far as the coastal forests in the state of Bahia. Today it is limited mainly to the coastal region of southern Bahia in Brazil, although evidence is coming to light that some populations may remain further inland in regions devastated in the distant past and now comprising mainly dry desert thorn scrub (caatinga). Populations inland are extremiely rare, and have disappeared over enormous areas. They are evidently declining drastically throughout their rangc, not only because of forest destruction, which has accelerated dramatically over the last two decades, but also because of hunting (Mittermeier ef al., 1982, 1989; Coimbra-filho, 1986; Santos et al., 1987; Oliver and Santos, 1991).