Four spider monkeys now available for the public to see will not only be a fun new attraction at the St. Louis Zoo, but also will serve as a reminder of the horrors of wildlife trafficking, officials said Monday.
“It's a huge issue because not only are we removing these monkeys from the wild, but we're also killing their parents — and so whole generations are being lost,” said Shannon Farrell, a primate keeper at the zoo since 2012.
The Mexican spider monkeys — named Chico, Oxomátli, Xóchitl and Chula — all arrived at the St. Louis Zoo in April after being seized as infants from smugglers by federal authorities along the U.S-Mexico border last year.
While the 13- to 17-pound monkeys considered to be endangered by conservation groups are doing well in St. Louis, they do carry traumatic pasts, Farrell said. One of the three females still has a shotgun pellet in her body, for example.
“We want people to know that these are not pets,” Farrell said. “These are not animals that you would want in your home. They're messy. They carry diseases. There's no way that people can provide an appropriate home for them.”
This particular breed of spider monkey is especially susceptible to wildlife trafficking, in which poachers sell them to be exotic house pets, because they are such social animals and because of some of their unique features — like what’s called a “prehensile tail” that acts as a fifth limb to help with climbing.
The combination of trafficking and habitat loss have led to the endangered classification for the primate that naturally roams Mexico and Central America from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Farrell said.
The spider monkeys are raised by their parents for several years. Because researchers believe that parents are either dead or have no way of finding their native troop, these primates will need to remain in captivity.
Farrell said zookeepers remain hopeful that all four primates can stick together for the remainder of their potentially 50-year lifespan and stay at the St. Louis Zoo. Since the spring, the wildlife biologists at the zoo have been integrating these four with an adult spider monkey named Patty.
“We really try to take care of these animals for their whole lives, so they will live a long, full and fulfilling life here at the St Louis Zoo,” Farrell said.
