Costa Rica's Monkeys
Lose Ground to
Developers
By John McPhaul
SAN RAMON, Costa Rica,
(Reuters) - Costa Rica
has lost up to half of
its monkeys over the
last 12 years as
developers expanding
into their jungle
habitat isolate them in
small communities,
scientists said on
Thursday.
Populations of monkeys
including howler, white
face, spider and
squirrel monkeys have
declined by the
thousands, scientists at
a seminar estimated.
"The principal factor
that reduces the
populations is always
sooner or later the
deterioration of
habitat," University of
Costa Rica researcher
Gustavo Gutierrez told
Reuters.
The spider monkey,
characterized by its
lanky limbs, has been
the most affected, its
population falling to
7,000 from 26,000 a
dozen years ago, said
University of Costa Rica
ecologist Ronald
Sanchez.
Costa Rica protects the
environment of about a
quarter of its territory
to varying degrees, with
12 percent inside
national parks.
But urban development,
including new tourist
hotels and condominiums,
is making protected
areas into virtual
islands, fragmenting the
monkeys' habitats and
inhibiting genetic
diversity needed to keep
them healthy, Gutierrez
said.
"What we have is 25
percent of the country
in islands, without
genetic contact between
one island and another,"
Gutierrez said.
To restore the
populations, scientists
want the government to
increase protected areas
and create corridors to
reconnect the isolated
patches, Sanchez said.
Shifts in weather
patterns believed to be
caused by global warming
could lead to lower
growth of plants eaten
by the monkeys, further
hurting populations,
scientists said.
Increasing tourism in
Costa Rica, where 1.7
million vacationed last
year, also has played a
role in the population
decline. Junk food like
corn chips offered by
well-meaning tourists is
hurting the monkeys'
health, scientists said.
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