The Golden bellied capuchin

The Golden-bellied capuchin enclosure at AquaZoo Leeuwarden:


Pictures are from last month. In summer the trees are of course greener.

 

Beautiful looking enclosure, are they very active in it ?

 

The plan was to keep them together, but eventually they never did. They found it too risky.

 

Very active. I always see them climbing in the trees, play with each other or foraging for food.

 

Yes, not too suprised, it does seem a risky combination and I'm sure that something similar to what happened to that Javan langur mauled / drowned to death by Asian short clawed otters at that US zoo (the Bronx ?) would have happened sooner or later.

 

I don't think the sex determination problem is so puzzling, many South American monkey species have unusually large external female genitalia and this species also has relatively long hair on the belly and there is a significant overlapping in the morphometric data of adult males and females. The EAZA guidelines recommend manual examination of the genitalia of capuchins for sex determination, so I don't think the problem is restricted to this species.
I don't have all the relevant Chester Annual Reports so I can't tell the complete story, but I have several figures from animal stocklists compiled on 31st December each year (@bongorob probably has more details).

1998 2/2
2005 4/1
2010 8/1/1 this seems the maximum group size, before the sex determination problem was appreciated
2013 4/1/3
2016 3/1/3
2018 3/1/1 the latest published figure​

It appears that there has been a birth in most of these years, but 2 deaths in 2018 were the only ones I have seen in the records. I don't know where the original animals came from or any details about animals sent to other collections.
To the best of my knowledge, the group has been kept in four different locations in the zoo. First on the old gorilla islands beside the Tropical House (now modified for red river hogs). Then on the island in the canal, opposite the onagers. Thirdly on the island at the other end of the Tropical House, shown in the photo above, and finally in the last enclosure in the Monkey House. I don't think I have seen them since the fire in the Monsoon Forest when the big group of crested macaques had to be moved back into the Monkey House. That may just be bad luck when I have visited or they may be in the zoo's large new off-show area.

 

Yes, that is true and is particularly the case with the Ateles monkeys but I wasn't aware that capuchins posed such problems in sexing though so that is something new I've learned today.

There is some significant and notable sexual dimorphism in tufted capuchins in cranial formation , head body length, weight and canine size so I assumed this would also be the case with other capuchin species.

 

Thank you for all the information about the Chester capuchins @gentle lemur.

It certainly seems like they have quite a substantial breeding group at the zoo and with luck it will grow with further births at a future date.

 

I’ve seen the golden-bellied capuchins at Edinburgh, in my opinion their enclosure for brown capuchins in Living Links is way better in terms of space and environment, the golden-bellied capuchins are kept in the monkey house, a subpar house, their indoor quarters look a bit small but still enough for the group of capuchins to have their own space and i can’t comment on the outdoor enclosure since i haven’t seen it before. Golden-belied capuchins are no doubt, one of my favourite species of primate.

 

Great to hear that these are one of your favourite species @lowland anoa !

I don't think I saw these at Edinburgh when I visited a few times in the early 2000's though I do remember seeing their tufted capuchins and the monkey house.

I wonder why the golden bellied haven't been given a larger enclosure , how many of them are kept there ?

I'd be curious to see what the enclosure looks like at Edinburgh so will check if there is anything in the gallery.

 

@lowland anoa Unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures of the enclosure for this species at Edinburgh

 

I checked my files and I have seen the golden-bellied capuchin in seven zoos: Amersfoort, Apenheul, Gaia, Tierpark Berlin, Köln, Frankfurt and Warszawa. Apparently I missed it in Lisboa, because Zootierliste lists it as present at the time of my visit.

 

Also checked the list of zoos in which I've seen this species and just came to 4 zoos - all in the Netherlands but also all 4 very nice and good enclosures :
- Dierenpark Amersfoort
- Apenheul - Apeldoorn
- Gaia Zoo - Kerkrade
- ZooParc Overloon

 

Thanks for sharing guys, will try to find some pictures in the gallery of these animals and their enclosures.

 

The capuchins arrived in 2007 from Magdeburg according to ZTL, as of 2017 the current stock was 9 capuchins (4:5)

I recall seeing the capuchins in their indoor quarters, it was rather bare, with ropes and hay in the mesh top

 

Thanks for that @lowland anoa !

Seems like the group has grown steadily over the years , really quite a shame they don't have access to that larger enclosure for the tufted capuchins though.

 

Edinburgh zoo inventory 2007 shows 2 males present at the beginning of the year 5 males 1 female arriving during 2007 no deaths and no disposals with 7 males 1 female end of year. I assume they kept 2 separate groups can't imagine the males integrating into a family group very well.

 

For anyone who's interested in the referenced callitrichidae recommendations.

Common marmoset, Black tailed marmoset, spix moustached tamarin and spix black manteled tamarin and down as phase out/replace.

Sliveey brown tamarin is listed as start EEP when animals are available.

 

Yellow-breasted capuchins used to be exhibited among visitors on a large territory (#12 on the zoo map) at la Vallée des Singes (Romage). However, managing the monkeys and visitors was very labour-intensive and was stopped after at least 7-8 years. Now, the large breeding group is on a smaller island (#13), separated from visitors and were replaced by female-only groups of black and red-bellied lemurs.
The pressure exerted by the capucin family led to a significative reduction of foliage/vegetation on their territory that had to be replaced by some ropes and wooden climbing structure which is definitely one of the worst looking exhibits in the park (still very good given the average level of the place).

A few males are often keep on another small island (territory #18). It is nice that despite being separated from breeding groups, they do have access to naturalistic enclosures most of the year and are not limited to small off-exhibits aviairies as it might be the case elsewhere.

For the record, territory #16 house a large breeding group of white-faced capuchin.

 

at 30/06/2020 there were 233 (140.84.9) yellow-breasted capuchins in European zoo (data from studbook). In this EEP there are also 72 (33.34.5) individuals living in Brazilian institutions.
Sexing capuchins is difficult when they are young and you do not have the animals in the hand. Good zoos will therefore catch their animals once before they are adult, to sex them, avoid inbreeding and the make a good management of the population possible (happens nowadays better than before).
In Europe, breeding has almost stopped, as it is difficult to find good places for the offspring. The male surplus is a big problem. Much space is taken by "non-recommended" capuchins, and as capuchins can live 40 to 60 years, they will still take this space for a long time. Most responsible zoos have stopped for already more than 10 years breeding these non-recommended capuchins, to make in future space for endangered.
There are no yellow-breasted capuchins in the USA, as it was agreed that they will focus on the crested capuchins (robustus). They received a few animals from Brazil, but never set up a succesfull breeding programme.