For the first clock time , two albino spider scalawag have appeared in the state of nature . Danny Schmidt appropriate the first photos and videos of them ; we postulate him to explain why the ghost monkeys import doomsday for their eco system .
IndefinitelyWild : How ’d you pick up about the spectre monkeys ?
Danny Schmidt : I first heard about the albino brown spider monkey through a confrere in Bogota , Federico Pardo . We went to grad school day together and have get together on many projects since . He mentioned the albinos and his connection to the researcher Dr Andres Link , who take the kin grouping of which the albino are part of . We were appear for an interesting entering to the story of threatened biodiversity in Colombia and we knew the albino were it .
IW : Who come up with the “ shade monkey ” nickname ?
DS : The nickname came was something I came up with when I pop out search and write treatments for the story . I was n’t interested as much in coming up with something catchy as I was with give the albinos a greater meaning in the setting of what they make up . They are alive , but they make up a mintage on the brink of extinction . These “ ghost ” are bringing us a subject matter . They are emblem of an ecosystem in hassle , of a fragmented home ground that forces hereditary inbreeding , and of an iconic mintage — the largest prelate in the Americas — that is on the threshold of going extinct in the near future tense .
IW : How does the genetic diverseness of one population of one coinage of scamp matter to the spacious ecosystem ?
DS : brownish wanderer monkey are a key specie – they act as a essential purpose in the operation of their tropic ecosystem . They eat from a vast variety of yield tree and thus suffice a critical function as germ dispersers . Spider monkey prefer turgid swath of undisturbed , principal forests . So in the preservation of brown spider monkey habitat , we also make the correct conditions for other animals to thrive — sloths , tamanduas , jaguars .
When the genic diversity of browned spider monkey is compromise by habitat fragmentation , it means that the wide-cut ecosystem is also at peril . A hefty universe of brown spider imp means that the ecosystem is operate properly .
IW : Who first discovered them ?
DS : The albino brown spider monkeys were first discovered by Dr Andres Link of the Universidad de Los Andes and his team of research worker . They have been learn these populations of scallywag extensively , working for many age to habituate family groups and trying to well understand their importance to the maintenance of tropical biodiversity .
IW : Describe the surround these monkeys hold out in .
DS : The monkeys live in a tropic forest that is reasonably impenetrable and often difficult to work in . The ecosystem is bisected by rivers that were our only entrance to the deep part of the hobo camp . There were the obvious tropical affliction — insane warmth and humidness , armies of mosquitoes , bumble bees the size of golf orchis , and the dreaded “ cowboy ” wasps that scared the topical anesthetic far more than jaguars , caimans , and piranhas . But really , what made photographing the spider scalawag so hard was just attempt to keep up with them . They are so improbably nimble propel through the canopy with their foresightful wooden leg and covetous arse that functions as a 5th arm . For us awkward , perspire biped monkeys load up with tripod and heavy backpacks , it take an vast amount of vigor just to take the air through the forest — especially in a shoes where every plant has evolved to have spike , spine , or a symbiotic relationship with biting ants that come to its defense at the first sign of trouble . Luckily we had great help in the guides and researchers of Dr Link ’s team who really made the project possible .
IW : What factor have reduced genetic variety here ?
DS : The primary factor that have caused this striking habitat fragmentation and hereditary bottleneck are cows ranch and palm oil monoculture . These mega factory farm labor are pillage tropical forests not only in Colombia , but all over the world . experience from the air , these ribbon petroleum plantations are endless mile of neatly organise rows of this one , unmarried plant . There is a headlong rush to perpetuate this monoculture in one of the most biodiverse situation on earth . This is an fabulously deplorable paradox , but is representative of the short - terminus economic policies that devaluate the saving of uncivilized place in the name of make a quick buck .
IW : What efforts are being made to reverse this decline in local diversity ?
DS : Dr Andres Link ’s research groupProyecto Primatesis working hard in this part of Colombia to protect the rest home ground for chocolate-brown spider monkeys .
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AnimalsColombiaconservationRainforestSouth America
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