|
The yellow-tailed woolly monkey (''Oreonax flavicauda'') is a New World monkey endemic to Peru. It is a rare primate species found only in the Peruvian Andes, in the departments of Amazonas and San Martin, as well as bordering areas of La Libertad, Huánuco and Loreto. The yellow-tailed woolly monkey was at first under the ''Lagothrix'' genera along with other woolly monkeys, but due to debatable primary sources, they have been placed under the ''Oreonax'' genera. ''Oreonax'' has been proposed to be a subgenus of ''Lagothrix'' but others have acknowledged it to be a full genus. A recent extensive study proves that the yellow-tailed woolly monkey may indeed be in the ''Lagothrix'' genera. ==Discovery and rediscovery== The species was first described by Alexander von Humboldt in 1812 under the name ''Simia flavicauda'', based on a skin found 10 years earlier, used by a local man as a horse saddle. Humboldt had never seen a live animal of this species nor a preserved specimen, and believed it belonged to the genus ''Alouatta''. For over 100 years, the species was reported on only a few isolated occasions, so was thought to be extinct. In 1926, three specimens were collected in San Martin, which were then brought to the Museum of Natural History. It was originally believed that the three specimens were of a new species, but further evidence made it clear that these specimens were of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey. In 1974, a group of scientists, led by Russell Mittermeier, and funded by WWF, found a young yellow-tailed woolly monkey which was kept as a pet in the city of Pedro Ruiz Gallo, Amazonas.〔Mittermeier, R.A., Macedo-Ruiz, H. de, Luscombe, B.A.y Cassidy, J. (1977) Rediscovery and conservation of the Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda).〕 The rediscovery attracted the attention of national and international press, as well as conservation organizations that saw the need to know quickly the status of this species. In the summer of 2004, scientists searched for yellow-tailed woolly monkeys in a remote area of San Martin where the forest is tropical, humid and quite mountainous. The threatened forest area due to haphazard tree cutting was believed to have at least a minor population of the species, and was studied along with two other minute areas of Peru.〔 The loss of habitat due to the cutting down of trees in the distinct environment of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey could prove problematic for the species as a whole. The introduction of farm plots in regions where this organism can be sustained is drastically impacting the yellow-tailed woolly monkey’s ability to avoid extinction. The farmers of Peru are afraid of losing their farmland to conservation efforts of the species. Farmers said that they did not hunt the monkeys but that the land is necessary for growing coffee and raising cattle. The balance between avoiding the extinction of the species and maintaining the livelihood of the farmers of Peru is a major issue in the battle for conservation efforts of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yellow-tailed woolly monkey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|