Ecotourism and primate habituation: Behavioral variation in two groups of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) from Costa Rica

Abstract

Abstract:The increase of ecotourism operations within Costa Rica during the last 20yrs has brought more and more humans into close, direct contact with several wildlife species. One of these species is the white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus), highly gregarious, and with exposure over time, willing to come into close vicinity of humans and their developments. Such contact has its advantages and disadvantages for the ecotourism industry. We observed white-faced monkeys in order to assess the impact of human presence and development on monkey behavior, with a focus on aggressive, affiliative, and foraging behaviors in Curú Wildlife Refuge (CWR), located in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and to ascertain the degree of over-habituation of capuchin populations at CWR. Though there exists no discrete behavioral parameters that measure over-habituation, it can be defined as an extreme state of habituation in which non-human primates not only lose fear of humans, but also actively include humans in social interactions or treat them as a food resource. We used instantaneous focal animal and group scan sampling during 8wks in March and April 2012. Two groups (approximately 20-30 individuals each) of capuchins were observed; the first near the tourist development at the Southwestern area of CWR, representing a habituated population that regularly foraged, rested, and groomed in the presence of humans. The second, was observed in the Northeastern area of CWR, did not visit the center of human activity and exhibited fear of humans. The habituated group exhibited significantly fewer instances of threatened behavior in response to human presence (p<0.0001) than the non-habituated group, and spent significantly more time eating and foraging (p<0.0001). While the habituated monkeys at CWR may not be over-habituated, they could become that way as development, especially ecotourism, increases. Over-habituation is a problem that affects capuchins in certain ecotourism sites in Costa Rica. it is critical that the consequences of habituation be studied more carefully, primarily in areas where ecotourism operations draw visitors to wildlife habitats. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (3): 909-918. Epub 2014 September 01.

Human-monkey interaction dynamics and their dietary impacts on central american white-faced capuchins (<i>Cebus imitator</i>) at Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

“…Understanding how white-faced capuchins utilize human resources is a key step in being able to manage and prevent conflict between humans and monkeys where park visitors have the opportunity to interact with wild monkeys. Preventing escalating monkey-human conflicts over human-sourced food is essential not only to protect the integrity of the local ecosystem and health of the monkey population but to ensure a truly sustainable ecotourism economy (Krüger, 2005;Webb and McCoy, 2014). Our results suggest that monkeys in MANP in our 2008-2009 study period initiated the majority of interactions to access human food.…”

Interactions with humans reduce the success of foraging for anthropogenic food by capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) in Brasília National Park, Brazil

“…Interactions between humans and capuchins tend to be pacific, in general (Nunes et al, 2021), although high rates of conflict have been recorded in some scenarios, where capuchins are in almost constant contact with humans (e.g. Dos Santos & Martinez, 2015; Shasta E. Webb, 2014). In 2014, Sacramento (2014) found that 46% of the interactions between capuchins and visitors in the BNP were conflictual, while we recorded an even higher rate–60.6%–in the same study area.…”

“Let Me Take a Selfie”: Implications of Social Media for Public Perceptions of Wild Animals

“…Carder et al (2018) observed during their study of sloth selfie tourism that other species were available as tourist photo props including "common caiman, green anaconda, and to touch free-ranging baited squirrel monkeys, various parrot species and toucans" (4). Primates especially are a major draw for wildlife selfies and encounters with tourists (McKinney, 2014;Negrín, Fuentes, Espinosa, & Dias, 2016;Webb & McCoy, 2014), and research around the impacts of tourists on macaques in both African and Asian contexts have uncovered the potential risks of zoonoses, increased aggression and poaching generated by such attractions (Brotcorne et al, 2017;Hsu, Kao, & Agoramoorthy, 2009;Maréchal, Semple, Majolo, & MacLarnon, 2016;Maréchal et al, 2011;Schmidt-Burbach, Ronfot, & Srisangiam, 2015;Stazaker & Mackinnon, 2018).…”