What are the most common Asian monkey species in American zoos?

[BenFoxster]

I'm curious as to what the most common Asian monkey species are to find in American zoos, as Asian monkeys always seem to be in less demand than their African or South American counterparts. Also curious as to which are planned for phase outs of the AZA or if any are going become phase-in species and become more common in zoos.

 

[birdsandbats]

By far the most common Asian monkey species in North America is Japanese Macaque, with around 30 holders. This species has an AZA program and is also present in the private trade, so it can be found at a variety of facilities. Francois' Langur is the second most common species with around 17 holders, entirely in the AZA.

That's about it for Asian monkeys. There's a few other species that are around in a handful of collections (mostly assorted macaques outside the AZA and the small-scale AZA program for Silvered Leaf Monkey), but Asian primates in North America really are pretty much restricted to apes.

 

[BenFoxster]

Ok, very odd

By far the most common Asian monkey species in North America is Japanese Macaque, with around 30 holders. This species has an AZA program and is also present in the private trade, so it can be found at a variety of facilities. Francois' Langur is the second most common species with around 17 holders, entirely in the AZA.

That's about it for Asian monkeys. There's a few other species that are around in a handful of collections (mostly assorted macaques outside the AZA and the small-scale AZA program for Silvered Leaf Monkey), but Asian primates in North America really are pretty much restricted to apes.

Thanks birdsandbats, very odd considering the variety of monkeys that exist in Asia, I should have known they were very rare. Thanks very much, very interested in researching more about the Silvered Leaf Monkeys. I assume the Japanese Macaques could only thrive in the Northern states considering their need for cold weather.

 

[tigris115]

Yeah tbh it does kinda suck that there's not a lot of Asian monkey programs in the AZA but ig it's a matter of space.

 

[birdsandbats]

Ok, very odd

Thanks birdsandbats, very odd considering the variety of monkeys that exist in Asia, I should have known they were very rare. Thanks very much, very interested in researching more about the Silvered Leaf Monkeys. I assume the Japanese Macaques could only thrive in the Northern states considering their need for cold weather.

It is true that most of the Japanese Macaque holdings are in the north - in fact this is a rare case where Canada has almost as many holders as the US! Nearly all of the US holdings are in the Midwest or Northeast.

This cold-climate rule does not 100% true, however - there are even a couple of holders in Mexico.

 

[Great Argus]

Yeah tbh it does kinda suck that there's not a lot of Asian monkey programs in the AZA but ig it's a matter of space.

Space competition and limited interest from zoos is the biggest factor. Most of our mid-sized monkey populations from all continents aren't doing real well in NA, aside from a couple favorites.

 

[tigris115]

Space competition and limited interest from zoos is the biggest factor. Most of our mid-sized monkey populations from all continents aren't doing real well in NA, aside from a couple favorites.

Ngl the lack of interest from other zoos is kinda sad.

I'm not gonna do a call-out sorta thing as I don't know the sitch but I still think something can be done

 

[Great Argus]

Ngl the lack of interest from other zoos is kinda sad.

Well macaques lost interest over disease issues/concerns (hepatitis). A lot of other species just weren't/aren't around in enough numbers to establish well.

I'm not gonna do a call-out sorta thing as I don't know the sitch but I still think something can be done

For some of the African monkeys especially I think they could be stabilized if zoos had interest. For a lot of species the population is likely too far gone, and there never was space to maintain stable populations of even most of them long-term. A few attractive species like colobus, Mandrill, Howler monkey, and the ruffed & Ring-tailed lemurs hold the interest and therefore dominate the available space.

 

[tigris115]

Well macaques lost interest over disease issues/concerns (hepatitis). A lot of other species just weren't/aren't around in enough numbers to establish well.



For some of the African monkeys especially I think they could be stabilized if zoos had interest. For a lot of species the population is likely too far gone, and there never was space to maintain stable populations of even most of them long-term. A few attractive species like colobus, Mandrill, Howler monkey, and the ruffed & Ring-tailed lemurs hold the interest and therefore dominate the available space.

If you wanted to ask my opinion, offer some incentive for zoos to ramp up interest. I feel like the homogenization of many American zoos is genuinely a bad look for zoos, maybe even giving fuel to the antis.

Then, I'd have a combination of trying to see what species can be stabilized, what can be transferred from Europe, and maybe trying to establish in-situ breeding facilities in native countries that can help to supplement zoos.

However, again, I don't wanna say mean things or slander zoos that follow animal trends. I don't know all of what goes on BtS at the AZA so I don't wanna say something that'll make me look like an angry jackass

 

[15399]

For some of the African monkeys especially I think they could be stabilized if zoos had interest. For a lot of species the population is likely too far gone, and there never was space to maintain stable populations of even most of them long-term. A few attractive species like colobus, Mandrill, Howler monkey, and the ruffed & Ring-tailed lemurs hold the interest and therefore dominate the available space.

I definitely think increasing the populations of some of the African monkey species should be a higher priority than the Asian monkey species. Guenons in particular make great exhibit animals and have well-established husbandry.

Unfortunately for Asian primates, there are a number of challenges making them difficult to manage. Seeing as all the Asian colobines are folivores, they face some of the same dietary challenges of other leaf-eating specialists. While some zoos prioritize feeding koalas, most zoos aren't going to put the priority towards managing a difficult to feed monkey when that same space can be used for gibbons. For macaques, the disease issues have already been well-discussed on here, however personally I'd love to see either the lion-tailed or Sulawesi macaque program re-started with an import from Europe.

Perhaps another reason Asian monkeys don't have the same amount of interest as the monkeys of other countries is competition for space with gibbons. While African monkeys aren't really in competition for space with apes since gorillas and chimps are so much larger, gibbons are close enough in size to langurs that I imagine some zoos view them both as filling the same exhibit niche, with gibbons receiving prioritization in many cases.

It is true that most of the Japanese Macaque holdings are in the north - in fact this is a rare case where Canada has almost as many holders as the US! Nearly all of the US holdings are in the Midwest or Northeast.

Most of the US holders for Japanese macaques are also outside of the AZA. Within the AZA, there's only a handful of Japanese macaque holders in the US, with Central Park Zoo, Buffalo Zoo, and five or six midwest zoos being the only holders. It's one of the species I wish that more AZA zoos were interested in.

 

[Aardwolf]

For a while, lion-tailed macaques were one of the first - and one of the most successful - SSPs. The program was so successful that there was even some preliminary planning for doing a reintroduction program using some of the genetically-surplus animals, drawing inspiration from the GLT program. Then along came the Herpes...

 

[15399]

For a while, lion-tailed macaques were one of the first - and one of the most successful - SSPs. The program was so successful that there was even some preliminary planning for doing a reintroduction program using some of the genetically-surplus animals, drawing inspiration from the GLT program. Then along came the Herpes...

How much potential do you think there is to re-establish the program with imports from Europe? I know at one point this was talked about, but it appears now zoos just aren't too interested in having macaques (a real shame, since they are some of my favorites).

 

[Great Argus]

How much potential do you think there is to re-establish the program with imports from Europe? I know at one point this was talked about,

I thought we did actually import a few European animals - but the interest isn't there at this point and they're being managed to attrition.

 

[Coelacanth18]

For a while, lion-tailed macaques were one of the first - and one of the most successful - SSPs. The program was so successful that there was even some preliminary planning for doing a reintroduction program using some of the genetically-surplus animals, drawing inspiration from the GLT program. Then along came the Herpes...

but it appears now zoos just aren't too interested in having macaques

Some information I can add to flesh this out:

From this paper studying the trajectory of the global captive population for Lion-tailed Macaques: https://www.researchgate.net/public...ilenus_Long_term_Persistence_for_Conservation

The North American population was rapidly reduced via birth control, exports to other regions, and increasing generation time in the remaining individuals (Gledhill 1989; Fitch-Snyder 1990; Gledhill 1992; Lindburg and Gledhill 1992; Lindburg et al. 1997). It was believed that the wild population was less threatened than was thought earlier and that the North American captive population was secure, and a much smaller population managed toward appropriate genetic diversity would, therefore, be enough to provide a hedge against the disappearance of the species in the wild (“Hedge-breeding”, see Lindburg 2001). Little consideration was given to the consequences for the behavioral components of the reproductive system of the species and the reproductive potential of the population overall (see Lindburg and Gledhill 1992; Lindburg 2001). Subsequent efforts to induce breeding in selected groups and females, respectively, remained unsuccessful (Gledhill 1990; Carter and Ness 2012).

According to Lindburg (1993) the work with lion-tailed macaques at that time seemed to be influenced by a loss of interest in the captive propagation of macaques in North America. Attitudes toward keeping macaques were negatively influenced by space problems and incidences of Herpes B virus in some research facilities, although with no human fatalities documented in the zoos (Ness 2013).

Additional notes on perceived downsides from this paper: https://www.rainforest-initiative.org/assets/5th-ltm-symp/lindburg.pdf

Given the reputation of macaques as being destructive of their zoo habitats and their propensity for debilitating aggression, coupled with more recent concerns about health risk to human care staff, the number of zoos interested in maintaining LTMs in their collections is declining (LINDBURG, 1993)

If you look at the North American population graph on page 162 of the first paper, zoos in the region went from producing ~35 births in 1987 to less than 5 births in 1997. Hard to overstate how rapid that shift was.

IMO the loss of Lion-tailed Macaques from North America will possibly be the most regrettable loss of any captive mammal here in recent years. Endangered, active, unique appearance, fits into Asian-themed exhibits, and at their peak numbered well over 250 on the continent.