Sometimes I feel I have the best job in the world,
because I get to be here and do what I love.
Welcome to My Place on Earth, the series, where I'll be
meeting nature enthusiasts from around the world who want
to share the amazing wildlife on their doorsteps.
In today's episode, I'm joined by a remarkable conservationist
all the way, coming to us live from Ecuador to talk about the conservation of the
critically endangered Brown-headed spider monkey.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome on Citlalli.
Hello. Hi, Hannah.
How are you? Thank you very much for this invitation.
It's a pleasure to have you on we're so so pleased so thank you.
Thank you so, so much.
Now the Brown-headed spider monkey, 1 of 7 species of
spider monkey in South America, critically endangered, probably a little
less known to many people.
So could you tell us a bit about the species?
Yes, of course. Well, the Brown-headed spider monkey is part of a group of primates
that are characterized by their long limbs.
They are also characterized by only having four fingers on their hands,
and they are normally found in primary forests, especially this
species. And- well, they are critically endangered.
It is one of the most endangered primates in the world and here in Ecuador,
unfortunately, it is one of the- well it is the
most endangered primate in the country.
I didn't know that.
I mean how- what are the
population numbers in Ecuador at the moment then?
Well, it is estimated that there are at
the most 280 individuals in the world.
Goodness me, that's such a shame and that's
the thing with these species, you know, they're lesser known.
But if you don't conserve them, nobody will ever know about them
and that's why we're so pleased that you're here with us today, to tell us about them.
So, listen, you've sent us through some clips of their behavior,
and this is fantastic.
Tell us a little bit about what's happening here.
Well, here we found this spider monkey, and they,
you can see that they are grooming.
So this is a behavior found in a lot of a lot of primates
and it is something that they do to keep good relationships within the group.
In a lot of primates you can see that this behavior,
It is one of the main parts of their day.
And, yes, that relaxes them and strengthens
their links, their bonds within the group.
Now Brown-headed spider monkeys, they do have a really
important role in the forest, don't they?
Yes, they do. They are also called engineers of
the forest because they have this ability to disperse a large
amount of seeds, especially large ones, because they travel a lot
during the day and they can disperse the seeds that they feed.
We also know that a lot of the species of these tropical
forests depend on the Brown-headed spider monkeys to be dispersed.
Hence, their survival also depends on the Brown-headed spider monkey.
So the knock on effect of losing the Brown-headed spider
monkey will and could affect the entire ecosystem?
Yes, definitely.
That is why it's also so important to to protect them.
So you've sent us a little clip of what you get up to in your day to day life.
So let's take a little look at that.
I am here at Tesoro Escondido Reserve, I am carrying out primate
census. We do this every week.
We walk transects of 4 kilometres
and if we find any groups of spider monkeys, we count them.
We write down their behavior and especially if they're feeding on any fruits,
we collect them and then we add them to our reforestation program.
I just arrived at this, what we called it, Mirador,
which is a really nice siting spot on this trail and we just heard the
Brown-headed spider monkey shout or call, they have this long distance
call that they use to to communicate to other groups.
Sometimes we record these calls and we use them as playback.
So we play the call and when we get an answer, we know there are groups there.
We carry- we do this method.
whenever we are in a new place where we don't
know that they are spider monkeys there, or when we carry out
rapid census in some areas of the research, sometimes I feel I have
he best job in the world because I get to be here and do what I love.
Wow, I mean, you said it yourself, you really do
have one of the best jobs in the world truly.
I do (laughs) But of course, as many species in South America as a
whole, Brown-headed spider monkey are facing so many threats.
So what's really affecting them right now?
Well, this species has lost over 80 percent of their original habitats,
these spider monkeys need continuous and primary forests,
so the timber extraction and the land use conversion to monocultures
is one of the main threats that they face.
And additionally, they are also threatened by hunting
activity and by illegal pets, a trade.
And the area that you work in and and monitor
them, that's protected, isn't it?
It is protected.
We- Tesoro Escondido Reserve reserve protects for around
2,000 hectares of of primary forest and we work together with the
Jocotoco foundation and together we protect around 10,000 hectares
in the last remnants of Lowland Chocó forests.
And we are building now a corridor towards a national protected area,
which is the Cotacachi Cayapas national park.
And when you build this connectivity with different actions,
not only land purchase but also reforestation and working with the local communities,
then the idea is to ensure that these spider
monkeys will survive in the long term.
And your work is so inspirational, but how did you first get
into conserving Brown-headed spider monkey and
why are they so important to you?
Well, I arrived to Ecuador with my PhD thesis,
and I carried out this field work in the Tesoro Escondido when there was no reserve.
I lived there for a year and it became very,
very close to me, to my heart.
The spider monkeys they are very special when you see them,
how they behave or how they move to the- in the forest,
the intelligence that they have and how important they are for this forest as well.
When I saw that this place was so special,
I decided to dedicate my life basically to the protecting the
species and this and this forest specifically.
Well, listen, thank you so much, so much for coming on with us today.
We really, really appreciate it and keep up the fantastic
work that on the front line in Ecuador.
Thank you so much, Citlalli.
Thank you. Thank you for this invitation and it was a pleasure to sharing this with you.
Well, that's all we've got time for today.
Join me next time where i'll be talking to another amazing conservationist
and discovering another incredible part of the world.
And if you have a special place on earth that you would
like to share with us, then please do get in touch with this by commenting below.
But I will see you next time.