Old world monkeys in Latin American zoos

The Balneário Camboriú zoo's website says the institution houses crab-eating macaques.

 

When I went there, in 2015, there were also mandrills. I don't know what was their fate, but I believe there is a single male individual still being kept at the institution.

 

Guinea baboons are also kept at Wameru zoo in Queretaro, Mexico.

Tonkean macaques are also kept there too.

Sadly not kept in great conditions either, not a good zoo by any means judging by the pictures and footage...

 

What about the guenons and macaques present at the zoo? Are they already on the list?

 

What guenons do you mean ?

I will have to write up a new list and include the macaques (which are also held at Morelia as I've seen them).

 

Tonkean macaques were also held at Africam safari where I took a photo of one that is on the gallery. I also saw this species about a decade ago at Leon zoo but not last year. So once 4 Mexican zoos had this species.

 

That is interesting, thanks for sharing @carlos55 !

I've personally only seen this species at Morelia zoo and in fact haven't seen it kept in any other zoo anywhere else in the world since.

I wonder what the story of these monkeys is and where the founders of the Mexican zoo population originally came from.

 

In the Int. Zooyear Book Vol.27 there is an article about the animal-collections in Brazilian zoos and in a number of lists all kind of animals are dealt with.
Number of collections, number kept and number bred is mentioned for a whole range of species but the name of the zoos is unfortunatly not mentioned.
In this way I discovered that a species sofar not mentioned in this thread - the diana guenon - was kept back in 1982 at 3 collections in a total of 3-3-1 animals.
In the period 1982 - 1984 the species was not bred and at the end of 1984 only 1-2 animals were still living at 2 collections.
Would be intresting to know which collectios kept this beautiful species.

 

Wow ! Thanks for sharing @vogelcommando !

Diana monkeys are indeed a beautiful species and I wouldn't have imagined they were kept in zoos here too at one point !

 

Wow, great to know!

From some old news I found, one of the three institutions that held the species was Goiânia zoo. The last individual died in 2011, after 26 years living in the place. It's a surprise for me that this species was kept in Brazil in a relatively short past.

Morre único macaco da espécie Diana que havia no Zoológico

I tend to think the other collections keeping them were São Paulo and Rio, considering they held a huge number of species at the time; but there's also the possibility that this happened in other zoos... who knows...

 

When I mentioned the guenons, I meant the ones present in the first two videos that you sent the link of.

 

As, I mentioned before by Mexican law, primates May only be imported for research. At the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico where I teach there are various primate groups used for research. There are common marmosets, confiscated Mexican spider monkeys, rhesus macaques, and vervet monkeys. Some of these monkeys or their offspring do make it to some Mexican zoos. I have seen the vervet monkey colony at the Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas y Psiquiátricos. They have a very large enclosure which was quite natural. I could not take pictures, because my colleagues there do not want any attacks from animal rights groups, so photos are not permitted.

 

Another scientifical institution that keeps monkeys I'd like to mention would be the Butantan Institute, located in São Paulo, which holds a colony of rhesus macaques, one of the very few groups in Brazil and probably in South America.

 

Zacango zoo in estado de. Mexico has Japanese macaques, patas monkeys, and Hamadryads baboon. The first two species came from Chapultepec zoo.
Chapultepec zoo first received japanese macaques from Nagoya zoo in the mid nineties. They have bred quite well there and Chapultepec has sent Japanese macaques to Morelia zoo and Zacango zoo which now have established groups.
Chapultepec zoo has Japanese macaques, patas monkey, hamadryas baboon and a single male mandrill.

 

I still have a guidebook from Chapultepec zoo from 1968 The primate collection was the following- chimpanzee, orangutan,lion tailed macaque, lar gibbon, hamadryas baboon, colobus, hanuman langur,, patas monkey, Mexican spider monkey, mandrill and common marmoset.

 

I believe this mandrill could be sent to Rio de Janeiro in order to breed with the female they keep there, whose name is Safira. I think the zoo holds a single specimen, but I could be wrong, since after looking at some photos on the zoo's Instagram, I found some pictures of a male mandrill, but he probably he isn't there anymore.

 

I didn't know Rio still kept mandrills. I know the male died for sure (their Instagram publishes some inaccurate stuff sometimes) but didn't know there was still a female in there. Even so, as we discussed in other posts here (in this thread, if I'm not wrong), Brasil hasn't been developing a very healthy political diplomacy with the other latin american countries, wich also contributes for animal exchanges between hispanic and portuguese america become less common. Besides that, there are male mandrills in B. Camboriú, Sapucaia do Sul(not totally sure about this one) and Brusque, wich could be also joined to "Safira".

 

I agree, those are much better options, but I believe the Chapultepec zoo's male mandrill could be sent to Rio - or at least this Mexican zoo could receive a female individual - so the he isn't all by himself. However, as you said, we're lacking at diplomacy with other Latin American countries, so it'd be pretty hard to negotiate.

 

Yes, the diplomacy in our country is quite complicated...
I totally agree this mandrill in Chapultepec should not be alone... Mandrills are gregary animals; and we unfortunately have cases like this one in Brasil too; not only with mandrills, but also with other animals that have group behaviours. In Brusque there's a lonely rhesus, Teresina has lonely baboons of different species, the mandrill in B. Camboriú is also by his own, and many other specimens around the country, and Im sure this is a problem worldwide, unfortunately.

 

Not only Old World monkeys, but animals even as big as elephants are struggling with loneliness at Latin American zoos. Take Sandro and Koala, the two Asian elephants whose companions died this year as examples. Other than those, I'd like to mention Luna, the white rhino.