El Mono Titi

I have been fascinated by monkeys and apes ever since I was a little kid.  I loved going to Brookfield Zoo to watch the Golden Lion Tamarins in Tropic World.  I amassed a collection of books on monkeys and apes that I still have.  An entire shelf in my room is dedicated to my monkey and ape stuffed animal collection.  Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist whose work studying chimpanzees was groundbreaking and revolutionary, was my childhood idol.  I was overcome with joy when I had the opportunity to hear her speak at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.  However, I remember being absolutely crestfallen when I met her during the book singing afterwards and she was completely uninterested in talking to me.  Although my passion for monkeys and apes has been surpassed by my interest in other animals (mainly dogs), I am still filled with wonder whenever I have the opportunity to watch primates feed, socialize, or sleep in a zoo.  Nonetheless, I have never had the opportunity to see monkeys in the wild. 

Until now!  I am leaving in a week to spend the next three months studying abroad in Costa Rica.  I will be living in field stations, experiencing different ecosystems in different parts of the country (more on my program later).  I cannot wait to go.  There are four different monkey species native to Costa Rica: Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), the Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata), the White-headed Capuchin (Cebus capucinus), and the Central American Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri oerstedii).  All four species are remarkable and worthy of in depth study.  However, I am especially interested in the Central American Squirrel Monkey, known as el mono titi (o el mono ardilla) in Spanish.  This particular species of squirrel monkey has a limited distribution and is only found in Costa Rica and a small part of Panama.  There are fewer than 2,000 individuals left in the wild, even though the species is not considered endangered.  I did a research paper on the Central American Squirrel Monkey and its conservation status for my Environmental Science class last spring based on my interest in them.  Although I am not sure that the sites I will visit match up with the sites where Saimiri oerstedii is found, my goal is to see el mono titi.  That's what this blog and this upcoming semester are all about.  I am in search of el mono titi.