Owl monkey
Aotus
CONSERVATION STATUS
CITES: Appendix II
(What is CITES?)
IUCN Red List: A. hershkovitzi, A. lemurinus, A. miconax: VU; A. azarae, A. nancymaae, A. nigriceps, A. trivirgatus, A. vociferans: LC
(What is Red List?)
Key: VU = Vulnerable, VU = Vulnerable, VU = Vulnerable, LC = Least concern, LC = Least concern, LC = Least concern, LC = Least concern, LC = Least concern
(Click on species name to see IUCN Red List entry, including detailed status assessment information.)
Aotus azarae boliviensis
Photo: Rosie Bolen
The majority of Aotus species are widespread and abundant and are not
threatened by extinction, but some have an increased or very high risk of
extinction. Those species that are of concern are threatened in Colombia,
Panama, Ecuador, and Peru, mostly because of rapid rates of habitat destruction
in these countries and existing subpopulations with few mature adults. The
problem is even further compounded by the fact that the taxonomy of the entire
genus is debated and not fully understood. Geographical distributions of each
species in Colombia need to be ascertained according to one taxonomic model
before assigning conservation status to each species (Defler et al. 2003).
Censuses and research on distribution are necessary for the species in Colombia
and Panama as their abundance is not well understood. What is known about the
habitats in which they live is that human habitat use is increasing as civil
unrest plagues the country and there are no areas of enforced protection (Defler
et al. 2003). Categorization by the IUCN, given the apparent lack of published
data on conservation issues, general biology, and ecology of some of these
species, is undertaken by the Primate Specialist Group, a panel of primate
experts compiled to assess and evaluate the conservation status of all species
of primates. These experts meet to assess the status of primates worldwide and
the resulting classification is often the result of the judgment of an
individual Specialist Group member, not because there is widespread information
about the species (Hilton-Taylor 2000). The status of Aotus is a good example of
how classification is assigned in the most prudent way possible by the Primate
Specialist Group even in the absence of species-specific data.
LINKS TO MORE ABOUT CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION INFORMATION
CONSERVATION NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN Aotus CONSERVATION
Content last modified: July 18, 2005
Written by Kristina Cawthon Lang. Reviewed by Eduardo Fernandez-Duque.
Cite this page as:
Cawthon Lang KA. 2005 July 18. Primate Factsheets: Owl monkey (Aotus) Conservation . <http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/owl_monkey/cons>. Accessed 2018 April 20.