Save Bonita the Muriqui Monkey

Overview

We need your help to rescue Bonita, a Northern Muriqui monkey that has been living in isolation in a forest fragment that is surrounded by coffee plantations and cattle farms in the southeast of Brazil, unable to rejoin any group of Muriqui Monkeys. We want to help rescue Bonita and move her to another population of muriquis monkeys. But we can only do so with your help.

The Story

A few years ago, following her natural instincts, a young female muriqui left her native group, with the goal to find a new group of muriquis where she could live and breed. Everything could have been perfect for Bonita. However, because of the loss and fragmentation of the forests, she was never able to find another group to join in and found herself surrounded by fields with no trees. Bonita was isolated in a forest fragment smaller than a soccer field, surrounded by pasture and coffee plantations.

Luckily, in May 2018 , Bonita was found by a Caparaó National Park employee and reported to us at the project Muriquis do Caparaó and the species expert group. That has started a chain reaction of specialists that agree she should be moved into a functional group so she is able to reproduce and contribute to the future of the species.

We all want to help Bonita and write a happy ending to her story. YOU could help do that too!

BE PART OF THIS MOVEMENT, GIVE BONITA A SECOND CHANCE!

WITH YOUR CONTRIBUTION, BONITA CAN BE HUGGED AGAIN BY OTHER MURIQUIS!!

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Additional information:

Why do we need to rescue Bonita?

Muriquis live on the canopy of the forest and rarely come to the ground. They migrate jumping from branch to branch and are very good at doing so, but they’re unable and/or have never been reported to walk long distances. Muriquis also don’t use small trees to move, they’re the largest monkeys in South America and very specialized in moving through the canopy of old tall forests. In the case of Bonita, her forest fragment has no viable connection to a larger fragment where other muriquis might be present.

Muriquis are also known as “hippie monkeys”, they are extremely social and peaceful, living in social groups of dozens of individuals which travel and feed together along the day. They spend a lot of time hugging each other, communicating, creating and reinforcing social bonds. Alone, Bonita will never be able to express her most natural behaviours.

Muriquis are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN red list, having less than 900 individuals living in forest fragments. Every opportunity to aid reproduction on this species needs to be taken seriously. If Bonita continues to live in isolation she will never be able to contribute to the future of the species.

How will the funds be used?

Funds are being raised in 2 main campaigns. One campaign is for the Brazilian public (kickante.com.br/muriqui) and this Gofundme campaign which was made for the English speaking public due to technical difficulties to translate or accept international donations on the Brazilian website. Our aim is to use the Brazilian campaign to fund mainly the monitoring, capture and translocation costs while the English campaign will fund the media costs to raise awareness. However, all the money will go to the same pot. And the main objective is to ensure Bonita is safe and sound in her new group.

The funds will help with the pre-capture monitoring (happening right now), capture, post-capture monitoring, translocation costs, and the production of a short documentary and photographs for use in awareness campaigns.
We’ll need to fly biologists, vets, filmmakers and other specialists from Brazil and the UK that are giving their time to make sure everything goes well with this mission and that in the end, we can tell this story to raise awareness of the muriquis current situation.

Who are we?

We are a group of Biologists, Veterinarians, and Filmmakers that are giving our time to this project. The institutions involved in this action are the project Muriquis do Caparao (Brazil),  the NGO Rede Eco-Diversa para Conservação da Biodiversidade (Brazil), Parque Nacional do Caparao ICMBio/IBAMA (Brazil), Programa de Conservação  Muriquis de Minas (Brazil), Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais - Unidade Carangola (Brazil), The University of Salford (UK), ShortForm Media (UK).

Past Success story:

In 2006, a group coordinated by Dr Fabiano Melo who is also involved in this project was able to move a female found in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in similar conditions to Bonita, to a functioning group.  In a few weeks after the translocation she was able to join the only group of muriquis that lived in the area, and one year later she gave birth to her first infant. Since then, the translocated female was able to generate 5 babies in her new group.
Here is a video about the success of the translocation (in Portuguese).

What is happening at the moment?

We have researchers on the field monitoring Bonita's movements since July 2018. The monitoring is being done on foot and with the help of remote cameras in the forest canopy. The data collected on the pre-capture monitoring will drive the management and conservation strategies for the species and will help us determine the best location, time and tools needed for the capture.
To know more about the project's activities follow @savethemuriqui on Twitter and Instagram.