VERACRUZ - A team of scientists has successfully transplanted 30 howler monkeys whose original habitat in the southeastern state of Campeche was endangered after a section of jungle was cleared to make way for high-tension wires.The Mexican and Spanish scientists involved in the effort told EFE that after several months of work, the monkeys were settled in a safer area deep inside the Campeche jungle, where one of the primate families has already produced offspring.
They said the clear-cutting involved in extending the electric grid to 16 remote villages in the region had left the colony of howler monkeys isolated on "islands" of tropical rainforest, reducing their food supply and making the creatures vulnerable to both animal predators and the negative effects of human activity.
The original goal was to rescue and relocate 37 primates grouped in seven "troupes," as monkey families are known.
Last year, the government-run CFE electric company disrupted the colony´s habitat - the howlers spend most of their time in the forest canopy - when it cleared trees to run transmission lines in a stretch of the Campeche jungle.
Authorities brought in a team of scientists from the University of Veracruz, whose number included graduate students from two Spanish institutions.
The scientists managed to track down and transport 30 howler monkeys from the threatened area, though the other seven eluded capture.
The primatologists say all the signs point to success, with all of the monkeys adapting to their new home and one family having reproduced since the move.
