Environmentalists witnessed the incredible miracle of the birth of a spider monkey, which almost ended in tragedy – the baby almost fell from a height, being saved only by the umbilical cord.
This January, high in the rainforests of northwestern Ecuador, wildlife conservationists witnessed a startling event that nearly ended in tragedy. For the first time in history, researchers captured video of a female spider monkey giving birth; According to the Daily Mail, the baby miraculously survived.
The events took place at an altitude of about 15 meters – the film crew watched how the baby spider monkey hung precariously above the ground in the first moments of its life. In fact, only the umbilical cord was holding him up; Scientists were afraid that the newborn baby might fall and break, but fortunately this did not happen. Animal rights activists named the newborn male Anku.
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Note that spider monkeys are now endangered and therefore such sightings are extremely rare; In fact, this was the first time scientists were able to observe such a thing. According to environmentalist Felipe Alfonso-Cortez, one of the founders of the Proyecto Washu group, who managed to record, they have never been able to observe such a thing during 10 years of work in Ecuador.
The brown-headed spider monkey is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, all of which are critically endangered. The natural habitat of this species extends from western Panama to the western border of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. However, throughout Latin America, representatives of this species are losing their usual habitat; The main cause of this situation is said to be human activity.
Thanks to new images captured by scientists, researchers now know that spider monkeys need a quiet place high in the trees to survive. Animal rights activists also believe that the main reason for the extinction of this species is deforestation and large plantations where crops such as palm oil are grown. But there are a number of other factors as well. For example, the long average lifespan of primates and the long time they spend feeding and raising their young negatively affect the survival of the species.
The female brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps) is known to generally take more than 7 months before birth and approximately four years after birth to feed and raise her young. During this time the female is unlikely to become pregnant again, leading to a decrease in population size.
According to Alfonso-Cortez, biologist and coordinator of the Proyecto Washu project, the average lifespan of this species is 15-20 years. However, the birth of this baby was a surprise for the team because, according to scientists, its mother Aravi was already at least 25 years old. The team also notes that this is Aravi’s first calf born in 8 years.
The authors of the study note that the birth of this baby is actually surprising and gives hope for the survival of the entire species for many reasons: First, the birth of a new baby expands the population, and second, it increases its age. Aravi notes that monkeys are spiders that can live longer and possibly reproduce even at very late ages.
Previously Focus He wrote about a chimera in the flesh: scientists created a “glowing” monkey with two strands of DNA.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.