Recent advances in woolly monkey nutrition

Abstract

Woolly monkeys (Lagothrix ssp.) are threatened in the wild and are extremely difficult to successfully manage within captivity. The majority of health problems in woolly monkeys (WM) may be of dietary origin. We demonstrated that captive WM decreased by 11 % during a 16-year period. In addition, the number of captive facilities reportedly holding WM diminished while the birth-to-death ratio was inverted at 0.65 compared to 1.26 for the similar spider monkey (SM; Ateles spp.) species. When examined, the historical serum chemistry data from 30 WM housed at two captive facilities did not differ when compared to published results for howler monkeys (Aloutta sp.) and SM. However, serum glucose was elevated compared to humans and SM. Further research demonstrated that fasting levels of circulating lipids, fructosamine, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, and urinary glucose were normal in six WM with known hypertension compared to published data from similar monkey species and humans. Potential stressors can contribute to decreased health status within primates. Our investigation of fecal and salivary cortisol in WM and SM showed that captive institutions with the highest dietary total carbohydrates, total sugars, glucose, and fruit content had the highest cortisol concentrations. Further, our supplementation of WM and SM diets with inulin-type fructans numerically lowered fecal cortisol after 4 weeks. It is possible that the success of captive WM could improve if stressors and potential negative consequences of improper nutrition are reduced.