Marcos de Souza Fialho, Gabriela Ludwig and Mônica Mafra Valença-Montenegro Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Primatas Brasileiros – CPB/ICMBio, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil |
Abstract: Neotropical primates have fascinated Europeans since they first arrived in the Americas. Trade, shipping the monkeys back to Europe, began in the 16th century, and continues today, sending them to countries worldwide for zoos, privately owned pets, and for research. In this study, we characterize the legal trade of Neotropical primates from South America, with particular emphasis on Brazil, as evidenced in the CITES Trade Database website. Taking into account wild animals between 1977 and 2013, there were nearly 1,300 transactions, over half of which (60%) were reported to be commercial. Imports by zoos (10%) and for scientific purposes (6.5%) involved almost 90,000 primates. Sixty-three countries imported Neotropical primates and, with the exception of Ecuador, all South American countries exported live animals. The individual contribution of different countries to the trade fluctuated over the years. Only eight species showed numbers superior to 1% of the total number of exported primates. Considering captive animals, there were nearly 300 transactions, involving 4,827 individuals, with a smaller number of species and exporters. The amount of traded primates is relevant and deserves monitoring. Nevertheless, we noticed a trend towards stabilization of the numbers of species and total numbers of exported individuals over the last decade. Key Words: Neotropical primates, CITES, legal trade, South America |