Variegated spider monkey  (Ateles hybridus)

Both subspecies of variegated spider monkey are considered to be at enormous risk in Colombia (1), having suffered widely from hunting for food (2), and habitat destruction due to human encroachment and conversion to agricultural land (4). Sadly, the species' large size deems it an easy target for hunters, while its slow reproductive rate and generally low population densities makes it especially vulnerable to population collapses as a result of over-hunting (4). The habitat of the hybrid spider monkey (A. h. hybridus) is patchily distributed and there is a concern that few populations remain that are of an adequate size to be viable in the mid to long term. Populations are failing to be actively managed, even within protected areas. However, the brown spider monkey (A. h. brunneus) does not occur in any protected area, and its population size is thought to be much smaller than that of the nominate subspecies (1). The brown spider monkey (A. h. brunneus) has a small geographic range where forest loss, degradation and fragmentation are unfortunately widespread. Thus, this subspecies has been officially recognised in 2004 and 2006 as one of the world's 25 most endangered primates (4).

The hybrid spider monkey (A. h. hybridus) is known to occur in 4 protected areas: Catatumbo-Barí, El Cocuy National Park and Tamá National Park in Colombia, and Guatopo National Park in Venezuela (2). Although not in any protected areas, a refuge remains for the brown spider monkey (A. h. brunneus) in the Serranía de San Lucas in southern Bolívar, which has been identified as an important site for the potential establishment of a national park. A park in the Serranía San Lucas would protect a number of species endemic to the region, including two other threatened primate species, the white-footed tamarin (Saguinus leucopus) and woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha lugens). However, the region has been a centre of civil unrest for years, and census work there would be hazardous, since guerilla groups have placed anti-personnel mines in some parts of the mountain range. Although limiting opportunities for surveys and conservation work, this civil unrest has proved to be a double-edged sword, since it is also probably the reason why forest is still remaining, considering the insatiable destruction of the forests elsewhere across the country (4).