Interações e conflitos entre humanos e macacos-prego (Cebus apella) no Parque da Criança em Anápolis-GO

Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of conflicts between Capuchin-monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans in municipal parks. Diminishing these conflicts has been a big challenge as it has to find permanent solutions that benefit both parts. In this study I investigated how the interactions between humans and capuchins occur, what people think about the presence of these animals and how they behave towards them. Ad libitum observations were conducted and video tapes made of interactions in one park, in the city of Anápolis, State of Goiás, Brazil. Behavioral data were collected using one/zero sampling, and all occurrences technique. Personal impressions were obtained trough interviews with park users. The results obtained were analyzed in search of the unleashing agent of agonism, including details about the days of the week on which these conflicts were more likely to occur, whether or not food items were involved, where in the park these interactions occurred, which types of behaviors are more frequent, how and who intervened in the encounters etc. I also attempted to delineated a profile of the persons that frequented the park, considering their opinion about the monkey attacks on people, how they perceive the threats by the monkeys and their opinions about the existence of monkey free urban areas. Results show that the majority of the interactions occurred during the weekends. The wooded area was the place where they most frequently occurred and the conflicts occurred more likely in the playground area. Food transportation appears to be an important factor in the occurrence of conflicts, but simply toting bags did not lead to conflicts. During conflicts the monkeys emitted more combinations of different aggressive behaviors than did humans, but on the other hand humans produced a greater number of non-aggressive behaviors. There were more aggressive encounters when only humans emitted aggressive behaviors. The majority of visitors were regulars, had a secondary level education, had up to three offspring and visited the park for ecological reasons (which included see the monkeys and nature viewing). These people remained in the park from one to four hours at a time, and reported spending more time in the playground and wooded areas. More than half of the interviewed reported stopping to watch the monkeys and some reported speaking to the monkeys, feeding and attempting to touch them. Few admitted having attempted to hurt them, but more than half had already witnessed other people doing so. A few had seen the monkeys attacking humans. Attacks on humans by monkeys were one of the reasons most commonly cited for the monkey attacks; the second reason was the lack of food. Most people said they like the monkeys and thought they should remain in the park, where educational programs should be conducted. The conclusion drawn was that the attacks on humans by the monkeys were elicited by humans behavior: by monkeys misinterpretation of the action of humans as aggressive; by reacting to human interference in their social interactions, by being attacked first by humans, as a form of obtaining food or other survival issues. On the other hand there was a lack of knowledge about these animals on behalf of the visitors. This problem could be eliminated through environmental education programs.