Reproduction of the Owl Monkey (Aotus nancymai) (Primates: Cebidae) in Captivity

ALFONSO GOZALO AND ENRIQUE MONTOYA
Center for Reproduction and Conservation of NonHuman Primates, Veterinary Institute of Tropical and High Altitude Research (IVITA), Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Iquitos, Peru

There are few reports and poorly documented field studies about the reproductive biology of the owl monkey (Aotus spp.). Reproductive data were collected from a breeding colony of owl monkeys (Aotus nancymai) held at the Center for Reproduction and Conservation of NonHuman Primates in Iquitos, Peru, for the past 10 years. Seventy nine breeding pairs have produced 180 offspring in a period of 3,619 months, representing an average of about one offspring for every 20 months that a pair was housed together. Neonatal mortality in the first week was 7.1%. Litter size was almost one (99.4%). The mean age at first birth in a group of nine females born in captivity was 40.56 ± 7.82 (S.D.) months. The mean age of a group of 12 males born in the colony when their female mates produced offspring was 42.17 ± 10.73 (S.D.) months. Gestation length did not exceed 141 days. Interbirth interval averaged 12.72 months. A birth peak was observed from October to January. Breeding Aotus nancymai on a large scale in captivity is feasible. Received for publication August 21, 1989; revision accepte4 I i0enruary 5, 1990. Alfonso Gozalo, DVM, Proyecto Peruano de PrimatologiaIVITA, P.O. Box 621, Iquitos, Peru.

Key words:
sexual maturity, gestation length, interbirth interval, birth seasonality
 

INTRODUCTION

The owl monkey (Aotus spp.) is a small nocturnal platyrrhine with wide geographical distribution in Central and South America. It is distributed from Panama to northern Argentina and from the oriental highlands of the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. Aotus was originally reported to be a monotypic species with different phenotypical appearances, based on fur coat color variation and other external characteristics [Thorington & Vorek, 1976], but chromosomal studies have shown a great karyotipic diversity, from 2n = 46 to 2n = 56 chromosomes [Ma et al., 1985]. In Peru there are five species reported, A. nancymai, A. vociferans, A. azarae, A. miconax, and A. nigriceps [Hershkovitz, 1983]. To ensure continued availability of primates for biomedical research and in an effort to reduce depletion of wild populations, captive breeding colonies must be established.

TABLE 1. Synopsis of the Stability of the Owl Monkey Colony at the CRCP Between February, 1979 and June, 1989.

	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Breeding females	7	16	19	26	24	21	27	43	59	74	88
Births	3	6	9	3	10	7	10	25	26	48	32
Live births	3	5	9	3	10	6	9	23	25	46	30
Still births	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	2	2	2
Abortions	0	2	0	1	0	1	8	5	6	5	2
Infant deaths
At first week	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	3	1	2	1
At 3 months	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	3	0	0
At first year	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2
Breeding females discarded
deaths	0	0	1	1	0	1	4	2	7	1	2
For research	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Breeding females
lacking malea	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	3	3	3
Breeding females
added
Wild-caught	9	3	8	2	0	8	19	18	23	4	1
Captive born	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	2	14	1

Breeding females lacking male are those whose males died during the years and were not replaced immediately and thus not considered in the total number in the subsequent year.

The present study reports observations on the reproduction of A. nancymai in captivity at the Center for Reproduction and Conservation of NonHuman Primates (CRCP) of the Veterinary Institute of Tropical and High Altitude Research (IVITA) at Iquitos, Peru.