Interactions between humans and capuchin monkeys ( Cebus libidinosus) in the Parque Nacional de Brasília, Brazil

The Parque Nacional de Brasília, in Brazil, is visited daily by hundreds of people, because of its relative proximity to the city of Brasília and the presence of natural swimming pools, trials and picnic areas. Capuchin monkeys habitually feed on the food that visitors give them, take food from the garbage and steal it from the visitors. We studied the interactions between capuchin monkeys and visitors in the Park by means of interviews to the visitors and direct observations of the behaviour of capuchins and visitors. Most (79.2%) of the observed interactions involved the presence of food; only in 17.4% of the interactions we observed capuchins threatening or chasing visitors. Differences emerged between what the visitors reported in the interviews and what we observed. While in the interviews most respondents (76.1%) reported that interactions were started by monkeys, analysis of direct interactions showed that 47.3% were initiated by visitors and only 39.6% by capuchins. Moreover, 83.9% of the visitors affirm they do not feed capuchins, while 70.2% of them report having seen other visitors feeding them. On the basis of the above results, it would be beneficial to establish an educational program, providing information about the behaviour of capuchins and the consequences that feeding them could have on their behaviour and on their interaction with visitors.