Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) Habituate to Anthropogenic Pressure in a Low-Impact Tourism Area: Insights from a Multi-Method Approach

Shared habitats between humans and other animals are increasing in the twenty-first century, which may require behavioral flexibility from animal species to adjust to these new environments. We evaluated the effects of anthropogenic pressure on Geoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in a low-impact tourism area. Over the course of 18 months, we repeatedly assessed the presence of spider monkeys at 49 sampling locations for a total of 98 hours of point-count sampling and 6,768 hours of passive acoustic monitoring. Combining these data, we assessed the effects of human settlements, recreational areas, forest loss, and anthropogenic noise on spider monkey abundance using Royle-Nichols models. We found positive associations of various sources of anthropogenic pressure with spider monkey abundance. We interpret the results as Geoffroy ' s spider monkeys habituating to various sources of anthropogenic pressure, and conclude that the species has the potential to live in low-impacted habitats shared with humans, but that conservation efforts should focus on evaluating the risk of human-wildlife conflict emergence. By combining our multi-method survey with Royle-Nichols statistical models, we offer a flexible approach to monitor primate populations with a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, while controlling for heterogeneity in detection probability.

Automated summary

Shared habitats between humans and animals are increasing, requiring animal species to adjust their behavior. Geoffroy's spider monkeys have adapted to various sources of anthropogenic pressure in a low-impact tourism area. The species has the potential to live in habitats shared with humans, but conservation efforts should focus on evaluating the risk of human-wildlife conflict emergence.