Endangered Monkeys
The Endangered Monkeys of the Amazon
One of the tragic side effects of the Amazonian deforestation is the endangered monkeys of that great rainforest. As with so many other species of plants and animals, many undiscovered or little known monkeys are no sooner discovered, then officials put them on the Endangered Species List.
Causes of Deforestation in the Amazon
The up and down rate of deforestation in the Amazon is due to several factors having to do as much with the expansion of agribusiness as with subsistence farming (the typical cause of deforestation in other parts of the world). Attempts to reign in business interests in the Brazilian rainforest have had mixed results. A couple of years of reduced rates of deforestation follow a pair of years of sharp spikes, which follow years of reduction. Some environmentalists have noticed a sharp correlation between increases in deforestation and economic growth, suggesting that businesses and farmers use capital infusions to expand their lands into virgin territories.
The Home of the Five Families
The Amazon and nearby forests are home to species of all five families of the New World monkeys. Many are only found in very restricted areas of these forests and face possible extinction if deforestation continues at its current rate. These endangered monkeys are some of our closest biological relatives and scientists have only recently discovered them, living in the ever decreasing canopy of the rainforest.
The Gray Wooly Monkey
Although the Gray Wooly Monkey is wide spread throughout parts of South America, clear cutting and human encroachment has still driven it near extinction. Like most “wooly” monkeys, the Gray Wooly Monkey has a thick coat that looks like a thick rug-like costume covering its body. It is sometimes called the Geoffrey Wooly Monkey after its French 1812 discoverer, Etienne Geoffrey. Geoffrey’s name also graces the Geoffrey Tamarin monkey and the Geoffrey Cat, a wild feline of South America.
The Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin
Technically, the Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin is not an Amazonian monkey. However, in it we see both the possible future of the Amazon and possible ways in which the Brazilian government might head off this future. The Lion Tamarin, with its characteristic beard like facial fur and brown coat, is indigenous to the forests around one of the oldest Brazilian cities, Bahia. The forests around this coastal city have suffered from clear cutting and metropolitan encroachment. The result is that conservationists now designate the Lion Tamarin as “Critical” on the Endangered Species List.
The Brazilian government, however, has also tried to protect the Tamarin by creating the Una Biological Reserve, a national park where the Tamarin and other species are safe from encroachment. The government has increased the size of the park over the years so that it is now the largest area the monkey has in which to roam. This is not ideal but it is a positive step towards raising the consciousness of the Brazilian populace and getting them behind conservation efforts.
The Blond Capuchin
The Blond Capuchin is another species in similar straits to the Golden-headed Lion Tamarin. It too is indigenous to the Northern forests of Brazil--forests once connected the great Amazonian forest--but that Brazilians throughout history have isolated and plundered. In this devastated forests we may see the dreadful future of the Amazon.
The Blond Capuchin has an unusual history in that it was one of the earliest species of monkeys discovered in Brazil, identified by Georg Marcgrave in the mid 17th century. It was, however, largely forgotten until, in 2006, a group of scientists, thinking they had discovered a new species, had the earlier descriptions brought to their attention.
Unaccountable Loss
These endangered monkeys are just some of the species we know about. There are several others at several levels of danger if the plundering of the Amazon continues. Scientists find an undiscovered species almost yearly in the Amazon. For this reason, we must continue to pressure the Brazilian government and those of the surrounding states to increase their efforts to enforce laws against deforestation and to punish those that break these laws. We must do so not only for the endangered monkeys but also for ourselves.