Responses of a translocated howler monkey Alouatta palliata group to new environmental conditions

Considering the drastic changes in primate habitats, we must search for management strategies to maintain primate populations in the wild. In the present study, a group of howler monkeys Alouatta palliata was followed after being translocated to a 90 ha tropical forest used for understory palm Chamaedorea elegans cultivation. The group’s behavior was recorded in the new environment. There was no evidence of behavioral alterations due to the different habitat conditions, the translocation process or the palm cultivation activities at the release site. These results indicate that reintroduction, even to fragments used for cultivation purposes, is a viable conservation approach for howler monkey conservation in the Los Tuxtlas region of Mexico.