Benjamin B. Beck

Conservation Program for the Golden Lion Tamarin: Captive Research and Management, Ecological Studies, Educational Strategies, and Reintroduction

The future conservation of most threatened species will require not only the preservation and management of critical habitats but also scientifically managed propagation programs for captive animals by zoos. Zoos will undoubtedly have primary responsibility for the preservation and protection of genetic diversity through the maintenance of viable captive populations (or their deep-frozen equivalents). However, they should also have a role to play in supporting and contributing to the preservation of natural habitats through research and public education on environmental issues. Conservation programs by zoos, by international and national conservation organizations, and by governments should converge, as the size of critical habitats and refuges becomes smaller and the amount of land available to zoos and their involvement with endangered species becomes greater.

Food transfers in wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia

We collected data from wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) to describe the behavior of donor and recipient during food transfers, evaluate the effect of supplemental feeding on food transfer behavior, and examine various hypotheses concerning the function of food transfers in primates. Behavioral observations were conducted on 12 groups of tamarins with young (N = 30) between the ages of 1 week and 1 year old. Results show that food transfers involve various behaviors, from steals by recipients to offers by donors; transfers mostly derive from adults and are directed at immature weaned young (between 3 and 9 months old); and that most items transferred were prey or fruits that require skill to process. Eleven percent of food transfers were preceded by an adult vocalization specific to that context, whereas 86% were preceded by conspicuous infant vocalizations and begging behavior. The most common vocalizations were loud and atonal (rasps) and broad banded frequency modulated (trills). Infants born to reintroduced parents vocalized less, whereas reintroduced adults vocalized more before transferring food than their wild counterparts. Reintroduced adults and young received more food transfers (4.4 per hr) than did wild‐born adults and young (2.2 per hr). Our findings suggest that food transfer in golden lion tamarins is best understood as provisioning of young that have not fully developed foraging skills to ensure they get the necessary resources for growth and survival. Am. J. Primatol. 48:305–320, 1999.

Behavioral and ecological interactions between reintroduced golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia Linnaeus, 1766) and introduced marmosets (Callithrix spp, Linnaeus, 1758) in Brazil's Atlantic Coast forest fragments

Marmosets (Callithrix spp.) have been introduced widely in areas within Rio de Janeiro state assigned for the reintroduction of the endangered golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia). The objetives of this study were to estimate the marmoset (CM) population in two fragments with reintroduced golden lion tamarin to quantify the association and characterize the interactions between species. The CM population density (0,09 ind/ha) was higher than that of the golden lion tamarin (0,06 ind/ha). The mean association index between tamarins and marmosets varied among groups and seasons (winter=62% and summer=35%). During the winter, competition resulted in increases in territorial and foraging behavior when associated with marmosets. Evidence of benefits during the summer was reduced adult vigilance while associated to marmosets. Golden lion tamarins were also observed feeding on gums obtained from tree gouges made by the marmosets. Marmosets represented a threat for the conservation of golden lion tamarins.

Locomotion of Golden Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia)

Our study of the locomotor behavior of golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) was initiated because these unique, highly endangered primates, were perceived to possess locomotor deficiencies upon reintroduction to the wild. The critical status of the wild population (Coimbra-Filho and Mittermeier, 1978, Kleiman et al 1986) led to the establishment of the Pogo das Antas Biological Reserve 70 km outside of Rio de Janiero in 1974. The reserve consists of approximately 5000 ha of disturbed lowland rainforest (Kleiman et al 1986, 1991; and Rylands, 1993 for details on reserve condition and environment). A program of reintroductions designed to resupply the declining wild population (Beck et al, 1991; Kleiman, 1989; Kleiman et al, 1986, 1991) by culling social groups from the world’s captive stock was initiated in 1984. The first reintroductions, although successful, raised concerns that captive animals released into the forest may exhibit locomotor, and other behavioral deficiencies resulting from their lack of experience in such a complex environment (Kleiman et al, 1986). Thus, a program of prerelease and postrelease training was designed to aid in the transition of captive-born animals into the wild. The research program reported in this paper was conceived to describe and quantify locomotion in L. rosalia with these issues in mind.

Translations of Chapter Summaries

Analise cladistica das sequencias dos genes Epsilon-globin a e IRBP fornece informacāe complementar importante para urn esboco das principais linhas da filogenia dos macacos do Novo Mundo. As abordagens morfologicas e de genetica molecular sao razoavelmente consistentes com as evidencias disponiveis atraves do reg istro fossil , significando que as formas modernas fornecem uma boa base para o desenvolvimento de uma classificācao dos platirrineos, e que o entendimento das relacōes entre fosseis podem ser facil itados com a inclusao dos generos viventes nas analises. Os estudos moleculares e morfologicas fortalecem a ideia de tres grandes grupos modernos, possivelmente divergindo num intervalo de tempo relativamente curto . Considerando as discordâncias nos estudos da sistematica de platirrineos nas ultimas decadas - a correta localizacoo filogenetica de Cebus, Saimiri, Aotus e Callicebus - a cornbina#x00E7;oo das evidencias colocam Callicebus definitivamente como parente dos pitecineos. Elas reforcam tambem a ligacoo entre Saimiri e os calitriquineos, o elo entre Cebus e Saimiri, e sua associacoo com calitriquineos como uma linhagem monofiletica do grupo dos «cebideos». Os dados de DNA divergem, porem, com a colocacoo de Aotus como uma linhagem basal desse agrupamento, urn achado inconsistente com as evidencias morfologicas. A analise de DNA tambem aponta a necessidade de uma reconsideracoo da taxonomia do genero Callitrhix, que talvez noo seja monofiletica. Os dados confirmam parcialmente o padroo de ramificacoo do clade dos atelideos, posicionando Alouatta como a linhagem mais velha. Problemas que permanecem dentro dos calitriquineos e atelineos incluem: 1)os afinidades precisas entre os atelineos, Lagothrix, Ateles e Brachyt eles; e 2) a sequencia de ramificacoo dentre os calitriquineos, i.e., Callithrix/Cebuella, Leontopithecus , Saguinus e Callimico.