Etapas prévias à soltura de macacos-prego-galego (Sapajus flavius) : aplicando protocolos comportamentais e sanitários

Abstract

Nourishing from available food, avoiding predation and staying healthy represent the basic behavioral patterns, subject to the selective pressures that shape the lives of animals. There are several primate strategies to avoid predation, find and obtain the energy potential of their diet and stay alive. The blond capuchin monkeys (Sapajus flavius) are primates belonging to the Cebidae family, are medium-sized, arboreal and endemic to the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. They are on national and international lists of endangered species, with hunting and the fragmentation of their habitats being the main factors that impact their survival. Even under human care, outside of their natural environment, primates particularly find themselves out of adequate conditions of well-being. In order to avoid extinction, among the conservation measures, reintroduction is presented with the objective of reestablishing populations of species that have great importance for local biodiversity. With this in mind, the present dissertation developed protocols to evaluate the responses of a captive colony, formed by seven individuals, residing in the zoo of Parque Estadual de Dois Irmãos, in Recife/PE. Among the protocols, new items consumed by the species in nature were tested and simulations were performed for the presentation of live and taxidermized prey. All animals reacted adequately, as expected, in relation to the two types of environmental enrichment. A sanitary protocol was also developed to evaluate the health of the animals, through the creation of a decision tree that evaluates clinical and biological criteria, aiming at increasing the chance of survival of individuals in nature and mitigating epidemiological risks in the preparation of a possible release in a reintroduction program, both for reintroduced species and for native species of the release sites.