Techniques and Trap Models for Capturing Wild Tufted Capuchins

The difficulty of capturing capuchins(genus Cebus)via anesthetic projectiles, as well as the scarcity of methodological descriptions of operational trapping programs, are widely known. The limitations hamper studies focusing on the conservation and evaluation of the health of capuchins that depend on their capture. We report on techniques and trap models used for capturing black tufted capuchins(Cebus nigritus)in Londrina, Telêmaco Borba, and Porto Rico, municipalities of the State of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Captures occurred in forest fragments, continuous forests, and gallery forests belonging to several vegetational formations. The trap model we developed was a 2×2×3 m cage equipped with a 2×1 m door that we operated manually from a distance. We used live traps measuring 0.5×0.5×0.5 m simultaneously with large traps. We provided weekly bait stations using ca. 20 kg of food 1-2 mo before capture, during which we developed a whistle emulating a type of vocalization emitted by the primates that we used to habituate and attract the group to the bait station. The technique was very useful to find groups and to attract them more easily to the traps. We physically contained the captured individuals with nets, followed by manual restraining. For chemical restraining, we applied an anesthetic protocol based on the use of Zoletil ^sup ®^.We kept the subjects in smaller cages until they recovered from anesthesia, and maintained them in the cages thereafter, facilitating the attraction of other individuals to the larger cage.Wecaptured 85 capuchins in the State of Paraná. Of the individuals that could be sexed, 65.1% were males and 34.8% were females. In addition to the capture of primates, we showed that the type of cage described here was versatile enough to capture other mammals such as tayra(Eira barbara), peccary(Pecari tajacu), and coatis(Nasua nasua). Because of the similarity in the foraging behavior and diet among capuchin species, we suggest that the program described here could be extended to the capture of other species in thegenus Cebusthroughout its geographical range. We also describe a list of steps that need to be taken, based on our satisfactory results in several different localities, to conduct a capture program that is both efficient for researchers and safe for the subjects.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]