Gilberto Pozo-Montuy, María del Socorro Aguilar-Cucurachi, Filippo Aureli, Margarita Briseño-Jaramillo, Domingo Canales-Espinosa, Anaid Cárdenas-Navarrete, Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, Alejandro Coyohua-Fuentes, Fabiola Carolina Espinosa-Gómez, Montserrat Franquesa-Soler, Candelaria García-Duran, Yuliana García-Ojeda, Mónica Rosario González-Acosta, Javier Hermida-Lagunes, Laura Teresa Hernández-Salazar, Cristina Jasso-del-Toro, José Alberto Lizama-Hernández, Ileana Zorhaya Martínez-Ramos, Edgar J. Montejo-Zetina, Guadalupe Núñez-Martínez, Paulina Y. Nuñez-Ramírez, Pedro Shautamai Pareja-Badillo, Braulio Pinacho-Guendulain, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Ariadna Rangel-Negrín, Alix Fernanda Rivera-Sánchez, Elizabeth Sánchez-Domínguez, Juan Carlos Serio-Silva, Sandra E. Smith-Aguilar, Brenda Solórzano-García, Denise Spaan, Sarie Van Belle, Pedro A. D. Dias
{"title":"Howler Monkey Die-Off in Southern Mexico","authors":"Gilberto Pozo-Montuy, María del Socorro Aguilar-Cucurachi, Filippo Aureli, Margarita Briseño-Jaramillo, Domingo Canales-Espinosa, Anaid Cárdenas-Navarrete, Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, Alejandro Coyohua-Fuentes, Fabiola Carolina Espinosa-Gómez, Montserrat Franquesa-Soler, Candelaria García-Duran, Yuliana García-Ojeda, Mónica Rosario González-Acosta, Javier Hermida-Lagunes, Laura Teresa Hernández-Salazar, Cristina Jasso-del-Toro, José Alberto Lizama-Hernández, Ileana Zorhaya Martínez-Ramos, Edgar J. Montejo-Zetina, Guadalupe Núñez-Martínez, Paulina Y. Nuñez-Ramírez, Pedro Shautamai Pareja-Badillo, Braulio Pinacho-Guendulain, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Ariadna Rangel-Negrín, Alix Fernanda Rivera-Sánchez, Elizabeth Sánchez-Domínguez, Juan Carlos Serio-Silva, Sandra E. Smith-Aguilar, Brenda Solórzano-García, Denise Spaan, Sarie Van Belle, Pedro A. D. Dias","doi":"10.1002/ajp.23684","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n <p>In May and June 2024, a die-off of Mexican mantled howler monkeys (<i>Alouatta palliata mexicana</i>) occurred in southern Mexico. This commentary documents the event, attributing it to extreme heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and habitat impoverishment. Despite their reported resilience to habitat disturbances, mantled howler monkey mortality rate in some areas reached 31%. Key evidence points to heatstroke as the primary cause of death, exacerbated by limited hydration and reduced dietary diversity in disturbed habitats. Immediate responses included community-led rescues (e.g., hydrating the monkeys), coordination of rescue activities by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) (e.g., managing donations), involvement of scientists (e.g., monitoring of primate populations), and assistance from government officials (e.g., providing legal support for animal management). This event underscores the urgency of developing action plans to prevent and attend future crises. Among other actions, we highlight (i) establishing primate care infrastructure with medical and rehabilitation centers; (ii) developing protocols and training programs to ensure rapid crisis response; (iii) fostering collaboration among government, NGOs, and academic institutions for effective crisis management; and (iv) developing targeted research on climate change impacts, predictive models, and long-term health monitoring. We emphasize the critical need for coordinated conservation efforts to protect wild primates and maintain natural ecosystem resilience in the face of escalating climate challenges.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7662,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Primatology","volume":"86 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Primatology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.23684","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In May and June 2024, a die-off of Mexican mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana) occurred in southern Mexico. This commentary documents the event, attributing it to extreme heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and habitat impoverishment. Despite their reported resilience to habitat disturbances, mantled howler monkey mortality rate in some areas reached 31%. Key evidence points to heatstroke as the primary cause of death, exacerbated by limited hydration and reduced dietary diversity in disturbed habitats. Immediate responses included community-led rescues (e.g., hydrating the monkeys), coordination of rescue activities by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) (e.g., managing donations), involvement of scientists (e.g., monitoring of primate populations), and assistance from government officials (e.g., providing legal support for animal management). This event underscores the urgency of developing action plans to prevent and attend future crises. Among other actions, we highlight (i) establishing primate care infrastructure with medical and rehabilitation centers; (ii) developing protocols and training programs to ensure rapid crisis response; (iii) fostering collaboration among government, NGOs, and academic institutions for effective crisis management; and (iv) developing targeted research on climate change impacts, predictive models, and long-term health monitoring. We emphasize the critical need for coordinated conservation efforts to protect wild primates and maintain natural ecosystem resilience in the face of escalating climate challenges.
期刊介绍:
The objective of the American Journal of Primatology is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and findings among primatologists and to convey our increasing understanding of this order of animals to specialists and interested readers alike.
Primatology is an unusual science in that its practitioners work in a wide variety of departments and institutions, live in countries throughout the world, and carry out a vast range of research procedures. Whether we are anthropologists, psychologists, biologists, or medical researchers, whether we live in Japan, Kenya, Brazil, or the United States, whether we conduct naturalistic observations in the field or experiments in the lab, we are united in our goal of better understanding primates. Our studies of nonhuman primates are of interest to scientists in many other disciplines ranging from entomology to sociology.