#or perhaps even a woolly monkey

[civetcider]

what do you guys think about generic speciesless monkey? you know, this guy

[happygirl2oo2]

Every reference I could find to Fitz's love of monkeys in Marvel's Agents of Shield, organized by episode numbers

According to this article, Fitz's love for monkeys comes from Iain de Caestecker's love for monkeys. The actor joked in season one about wanting a monkey sidekick for Fitz and it made it into the show's story. Fitz even has monkey figurines on his desk in early seasons.

season 1 episode 2:

FITZ: “I would love to see a capuchin in the wild. Maybe even a yellow-tailed woolly monkey. You know, um, Peru has 32 different species of monkey.”

season 1 episode 3:

FITZ: “If we had a monkey, we could get in.” SIMMONS: “Ugh, Fitz!” FITZ: “If we had a small monkey, he could slip through the sensors and disable the fence's power source with his adorable little hands.”

and

FITZ: “Did you hear the deadly lasers part? Without a brave monkey—”

season 1 episode 8: 

FITZ: “Still, this is definitely the type of work a monkey could easily do.” WARD: “You're our little monkey.”

season 1 episode 16:

MAY: “What's this?" FITZ: "Um, say you need to tag a fleeing vehicle... or a wild monkey, if it was to get away from you.”

season 1 episode 22:

SIMMONS: “That means that every bit of energy inside us, every particle" *breathes deeply* "will go on to be a part of something else, maybe live as a dragonfish, a microbe, maybe burn in a supernova 10 billion years from now. And every part of us now was once a part of some other thing ... a moon, a storm cloud, a mammoth.” FITZ, softly: “A monkey.” SIMMONS, also softly, accepting: “A monkey.”

season 2 episode 14:

Daisy: "Okay. But why am I suddenly feeling like old yeller right now?" Coulson: "Kind of surprised you know the reference." Daisy: "I've had a lot of downtime lately. That and Fitz really wants a dog." Coulson: "Thought he wanted a monkey." Daisy: "Guess he readjusted his expectations."

season 2 episode 16:

*When Fitz is packing up his stuff to leave, his three-monkeys statue is the first thing he's seen grabbing*

season 3 episode 21:

*When Fitz is getting ready for the broadcast with Talbot, he's making monkey noises as his vocals warm-up*

season 4 episode 3:

FITZ (counting his breath): “One chimpanzee, two chimpanzee. One chimpanzee, two chimpanzee.”

season 5 episode 5:

*Fitz is shown drawing monkeys on his cell's wall as a way to mark the passing of time while being there, instead of the regular line-markings that are usually used for that*

season 5 episode 16 (as Bobo is a common monkey name):

Jemma: "I was hoping you could tell me more about our future." Deke: "I mean, you saw it... It sucked." Jemma: "No, I mean Fitz and me. Do you recall any evidence of major injury, any noticeable scarring, perhaps?" Deke: "I don't remember you guys at all. I didn't even know your real names. Everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. changed them when they were getting hunted down. I just knew you as Nana and Bobo."

season 5 episode 21:

*when Simmons is packing up Fitz's things into the suitcase, his monkey statue from the earlier seasons can be seen among the things already in the suitcase*

season 6 episode 3:

SIMMONS: “Expecto Patronum! [a small hallucination of Fitz in a monkey suit appears on her straw] Hello, little monkey Fitz.”

season 6 episode 6:

*while in the memory of the night they first became friends, after Simmons tells Fitz she also remembers "how manic you were and thinking that genius is just a tick away from madness", the wall is seen suddenly covered in drawings of monkeys in the same way Fitz did to the wall in his cell in season 5 episode 5*

season 6 episode 8:

SIMMONS (about the events of s6ep3): "I saw you in a monkey outfit dancing." FITZ: "No, no, reverse on that bit, what do you mean you saw me in a monkey outfit dancing?"

season 7 episode 13:

*When Alya gets up from her bed in the pod to hug her mom, a few monkey dolls can be seen at the edge of her bed*

and

FITZ (about Alya): “This little monkey is punching me as hard as she can in the leg.”

[thecorteztwins]

A Poot of Roos

[Context: A the board I play at, portals from the Savage Land have opened up in NYC, spilling out dragons, dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, etc. Since potoroos actually pre-date the Ice Age, they count very much as prehistoric creatures, and the admin allowed me to bring in two. I decided to use them for a cute drabble.]

The fact disasters kept happening in NYC only made Haven more determined to stay in it. There were funds and help already for earthquakes, famine, and fires---but not enough, she knew, never enough---but there was nothing in place to help for victims of vampires and dragons and dinosaurs. She could, she knew, have simply sent aid from afar, but...as when she was eighteen and ran away from home to practice what her parents preached, she had to be there if she could. To share in the suffering---and its alleviation---directly, not from on-high in comfort like some distant queen.  Though...that was what she was doing now, wasn’t it? She could be on the streets, grabbing those who had no place to go and herding them towards her hotel room. She could be telling everyone she could that she had paid for buses to help evacuate the city, urging them to get on one post-haste. She could be doing any number of things. She knew this. It was screaming in her head. Yet, all she was doing was sitting very quietly, with the blinds drawn, with a cup of tea she wasn’t drinking, just holding, in its beautiful Arabic tea cup. Perhaps this was very callous of her. She thought perhaps it was. Yet she couldn’t seem to get up and do otherwise. She just...she needed a moment. And she didn’t know how long that moment was going to last. It seemed out of her hands. She accepted this with dignified submission. Everyone, she so often told others when they felt guilty for taking a break, needed rest sometimes. She would take hers. And then...then she would be ready again. At some point, when the tea had passed to the point of lukewarm but not truly cooled, a portal opened across the room. Likely due to Haven, like Fabian Cortez, being in @[MENAGERIE]’s phone. But unlike in Fabian’s case, it was not giant serpents that emerged, nor any other sort of fantastic monster against which she would have no defense. It was two small, dull-colored, furry little creatures with polite, mild expressions. They looked like large rats, to Haven’s untrained, unknowledgable eyes. But in fact, these were something even more majestic, and far more rare. These...were POTOROOS. A creature native to Australia...and, deep in its most secret and secure scrublands, the Savage Land. In both places, it had reigned in its little kingdom of under-brush for over 10 million years. And while in Australia it it had been pushed to the brink of extinction by the onslaught of feral cats and foxes brought by the colonizers, in the Savage Land it had suffered no such setback. This pair were but a miniscule percentage of a thriving population.  Yet, they were humble creatures. Haven might not even have realized they were in the room at first without the presence of the portal to alert her. They did not charge, nor announce themselves with noise. They did not even sniff around at first, but looked at her with a sort of confused curiosity, as if waiting to ask permission. She looked back. Their gaze held in the air like something tangible. “Hello there,” she said, stumped for any other reaction. She was afraid of dogs, and monkeys must be treated with caution, but rats were not bad. She had walked through the temple of Karni Mata many times to feed the goddess’s multitudinous rodents. These were much LARGER than those, but she had heard New York rats were very, very big. But they did not seem hostile. “How did you...what was that?” she said, asking about the portal, though not expecting a response. The potoroos expression seemed to say that they were not sure, that they were as confused as she was, and very sorry about the intrusion ma’am hope it’s not any trouble.  “I suppose whatever that was is how everything else is getting in,” she said aloud,  “I am QUITE glad you are not dragons. I suppose you must be...storybook rats? Prehistoric giant rats, perhaps? I’m very sorry, I do not know much about...about that sort of thing. I wish some of my---some of the children I know were here. I’m quite certain they would be able to identify your exact family and I could address you properly.” The potoroos looked at her, their expressions seeming to say it was quite fine ma’am. In fact, they were assessing her for a threat, being timid prey animals. This large, brightly-colored creature with its great black mane had obviously spotted them, and it was making sounds, but there was nothing aggressive happening. So in the typical fashion of prey animals, they remained still, but on high alert, ready to bolt if they had to. “I would get up,” she continued, “But I’m rather afraid of scaring you. I should be very scared, if I were a small animal, and all of a sudden in a strange place with a great big person looming over me, trapped in a room with them. Have you ever BEEN in a room, little rats? Do you know what it is? I hope it is not too claustrophobic for you.” She was rambling, speaking to creatures that of course couldn’t understand her, but as with just sitting there, she couldn’t seem to stop. And...it was making them both feel better, she thought. “I imagine you’re used to lush tropical jungles, aren’t you? That’s always what the illustrations depict in the dinosaur books the children show me. Ferns and tall trees everywhere, ferns and ferns and ferns. There are GREAT jungles in Maharashtra, where I come from, so many national parks filled with acres and acres of greenery and flowers and wild things. You might like it there. Oh, but not in the tiger reserves!” She continued to chat amicably with the potoroos, who eventually decided she was not a threat---probably just a big herbivore, like one of the many that would graze near them harmlessly at times in their homeland-- and they began to poke around the lovely hotel suite, like inquisitive guests admiring everything. Though, actually, what they were really doing was inspecting it for hidey-holes they could use, and any sign of fruits or fungus to be dug up. Haven didn’t know this, but it did occur to her after a time that they might be hungry. “I apologize,” she said, “It’s terribly rude of me not to offer you anything. You’re guests, after all. Now, I am going to get up. Please don’t be frightened. I won’t hurt you. I hope you know I won’t hurt you.” Slowly, slowly, indeed in the manner of the huge ponderously graceful herbivores of which she so reminded them, she rose from her seat. They were far enough away from her that they did not feel they needed to flee immediately---so spacious this cave was, for that was what they had concluded they were inside---but they kept their eyes rapt on her, just in case. She moved away from them at first, which was good, but they tensed all over again when she returned with a lovely sterling tea tray upon which was balanced two saucers of water alongside a smorgasbord of things she thought that these “rats” might possibly eat. She had heard it said that rats would eat anything, but perhaps prehistoric rats had a more discerning palate. The selection presented to the potoroos consisted of cooked chicken, leftover mutton and goat curry, tea cakes, some of the sorts of South Asian sweets that were typically offered to the rats at the Karni Mata temple as prasad, plain rice, and a salad of freshly chopped fruits and vegetables, all in little thali cup-dishes arranged around a small stack of warm roti bread. She kneeled down, placed the platter upon the floor, scootched it as far towards the creatures as she could, then sort of knee-walked her way backwards away from it so that they could inspect it without fear that she would pounce upon them after all. It took some time for the potoroos to dare approach the tray---25 minutes, in fact---but Haven was quite good at sitting very, very still for longer times than that. After they had perused the offerings with stately sniffs of their long snouts, they daintily set upon the chopped fruit, holding it in their paws and nibbling in a really most polite manner. Haven found herself impressed by their refined table manners. And that is how, for the duration of this latest disaster in Manhattan and NYC as a whole, Haven found herself with two very quiet, discreet new roommates. 

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll Remembers Their Favorite Lupin the 3rd Stories

On April 11, Kazuhiko Kato—better known to his fans by the name Monkey Punch—passed away. Kato created many amazing works in his time, but the best known and most beloved of all was easily Lupin the 3rd. For many of us here at Crunchyroll, it was one of our earliest anime, if not an actual gateway series.

  Today, we here at Crunchyroll News and Features are taking a look back at our favorite films and episodes, as well as what made us love this crazy series. We'd love to hear from the rest of you, too: tell us in the comments what makes you love the Lupin Gang and what story you loved most. If you're new to the series, we hope this encourages you to check out one of the standards of anime.

  Thanks to everyone on the team who took part and shared their memories!

    Paul: The true genius of Lupin III is that the characters are archetypal, and so they can map onto whatever story the writers and directors want to tell, from slapstick nonsense to hard-boiled, noir-style thrillers filled with murder and gratuitous nudity. Lupin, like Batman, means something different to everyone, and there is so much more to the character than simply “red jacket”, “blue jacket”, “green jacket”, etc.

  My first experience with Lupin III was The Castle of Cagliostro, and I've got a lot of time for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and Jigen's Gravestone, but I'm sure everyone and their cousin has some kind words to spare for those entries, so I'll devote a few phrases to the weirder animated entries: The Fuma Conspiracy, The Mystery of Mamo, and The Legend of the Gold of Babylon.

  Although I own two different DVD releases of The Fuma Conspiracy, I remember almost nothing about the film itself except that it involves Goemon getting engaged, the entire film is basically an extended (and exquisitely animated) chase scene, and the AnimEigo release had to fudge Lupin's name as “Rupan” because of the lawsuit with Maurice Leblanc's estate.

  The Mystery of Mamo has clones, a giant space brain, ridiculous cameos and product placement that got scrubbed from the Geneon release, like 6 different English dubs, and perhaps the single greatest visual rhyme in anime cinema history, which juxtaposes Lupin teasing Fujiko's nipple with world leaders pushing the Big Red Button for a nuclear missile strike.

  The Legend of the Gold of Babylon is so goddamned weird that is makes The Mystery of Mamo seem “two bedroom one bath white picket fence in the suburbs” mundane by comparison. I haven't managed to sit through the entire film in one viewing, but it's co-directed by Seijun Suzuki and it's arguably the most divisive work in the entire Lupin III franchise, so it merits a mention.

  But none of these wild and woolly adventures would exist without the original manga from Kazuhiko Katou, aka “Monkey Punch”, and while straight manga Lupin with no chaser is way too raw for me, it's the primordial essence from which all other interpretations of the characters spring, and the world is a smaller, meaner, and pettier place without Lupin's creator in it.

    Carlos: I’ve always loved the phantom thief genre in any medium. I loved it as a Super Sentai, adored it when Persona 5, and of course, couldn’t get enough of it in the eclectic series of Lupin the 3rd.

  Kazuhiko Katou’s legacy has truly been immortalized in Lupin’s escapades, being one of the earliest examples of the phantom thief trend in Japan and modernizing Arsene Lupin’s adventures for generations of fans to enjoy. The anime world has lost an old time visionary, but he left us with his timeless classic that I’ve loved for so long, and will enjoy for years to come. Whenever I sing “Memory of Smile,” I’ll raise a glass to Monkey Punch.

    Noelle: My first introduction to the series was Castle of Cagliostro, having also grown up on Ghibli, and something about that was just so fun and enjoyable.

  The Detective Conan crossovers are also a bit of lighthearted fun- Lupin exists everywhere!

  All Lupin works embody the phantom thief sub-genre, but instead of being something heavy and ominous, they are free-spirited. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon all have chips on their shoulders, but that doesn’t stop them from causing trouble and generally having a good time while doing so. Every installment is witty, clever, and I’m always eager to see how the gang will come out on top.

  The truest Lupin installment that greatly stuck with me is of course, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which ranks as one of my favorite anime series to this day. It doesn’t focus on Lupin himself but Fujiko, and her adventures of self-discovery and living her own life. This one was a far more serious series, especially compared to the far more carefree Lupin series that I’d been exposed to, but it worked.

  I’d usually watch Lupin whenever I wanted something that I know I’d enjoy, but also makes me feel good. There aren’t many series that manage to do both.

Rest in peace, Monkey Punch.

    Nicole: It’s been hard to reconcile with the fact that Monkey Punch is gone... My first encounter with Lupin came from Castle of Cagliostro, where I immediately fell in love with the Miyazaki directed version of Lupin as a dashing thief and the misfits that followed him around. I remember hearing from a lot of people when I first wanted to expand that “Oh that isn’t really Lupin, that’s a sanitized version of him,” and over the years I kind of find myself disagreeing with that more and more. Lupin is a lot of things to a lot of different people, and I think Monkey Punch really created a unique and amazing set of characters that various directors then worked with and left their mark on. I still find myself rewatching Cagliostro whenever I get a chance, and I find it an amazing ‘first anime’ movie to show to people who have never really seen much anime at all before.

  The Lupin TV series are filled with so many amazing episodes, and when I originally drafted up a top ten list last year, I ended up starting to rewatch the whole thing again. Even though some adaptations of Lupin are a bit better than others, I would say that anyone who likes the idea of a master thief and his madcap capers will find a lot to love almost anywhere in this series, and I hope that maybe in this sad circumstance of Monkey Punch’s passing, people will get curious enough to investigate the series and fall in love with it too.

  Some of my favorite Lupin memories and moments, aside from Cagliostro, have to be those dealing with Zenigata. As much as I love the Lupin crew, there’s just something charming and attractive about Zenigata’s character that always made him so much fun to watch. As I mentioned in my list, there are a lot of interpretations of Zenigata, but I always prefer the hard-boiled, semi-noir detective version of him that episodes like “Until the Full Moon Passes” or “The Woman the Old Man Fell in Love With” depict. I think the reason I always liked Zenigata so much is that he’s really important for Lupin to play off of, and without Zenigata, I don’t think you’d really enjoy Lupin as much as a character! The moments where the two of them really face off, or even work together, are some of the most magical moments in the series overall; on that note, I really recommend curious viewers to check out “The End of Lupin III”, another great pick.

  Finally, I’ve come to appreciate the Miyazaki influence in Lupin more over the years, and realize that without Monkey Punch, we probably wouldn’t have Studio Ghibli today; those who are curious to see where Miyazaki got some of his original directing starts might want to check out his Lupin episodes, and of those, “Farewell, my Beloved Lupin” is amazing (and keen Miyazaki fans might see a lot of similar designs here to later movies!) and of course the amazing Miyazaki take on Fujiko in “Wings of Death: Albatross”! I’m sure there’s so much more I could talk about or recommend, but I’ll just say that Lupin, in all of his incarnations, is worth it, with something for everyone, from various movies and tv shows to spin-offs like the amazing Woman Called Fujiko Mine, I hope that creators will keep honoring the vision and memory of Monkey Punch and deliver us more amazing Lupin content in the future.

    Joseph: Like many people, my first exposure to Lupin as a character was in Miyazaki's Castle of Cagliostro feature, which I still think is his best movie as a director. That characterization of Lupin, I would go on to learn, is just one of many, and I would soon see just how different his origins were when Tokyopop started publishing Monkey Punch’s original Lupin manga in English. Looking back, it's probably not the best representation overall, but it's still interesting to see how the character has evolved since those rough early days.

  The next time I caught him in action was back when Part 2 would air on Adult Swim—*checks paper* almost SIXTEEN YEARS ago?—and I've kept up with him and the rest of the gang irregularly over the years. My favorite thing about the franchise is just how flexible it is in general. While the broad strokes of each character may remain along the same lines depending on the jacket du jour, Lupin offers up a distinct canvas on which artists can apply their own unique sensibilities. I especially appreciate stuff like 2012’s The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which is about as decadently artsy as Lupin gets.

    Kara: I spent two semesters in my college's anime club my freshman year being generally okay with anime. It was Castle of Cagliostro that got me all the way in. I remember when I finished watching it, I turned to my friend and said, "I'm actually kind of sad there's no more movies with these characters in them." I had no idea how ridiculously wrong I was.

  I loved earlier specials and series, but what I'm loving now is the flexibility the characters have after 50 years. We had The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, which was downright surreal but ultimately rewarding when the other shoe drops. The new movies have been fantastic as they bring in a largely new cast. And for me, Part 5 was some of the most satisfying anime I've ever watched, Lupin or otherwise. It felt so in the spirit of Kato-sensei's original work, while still creating new riffs on it.

  For me, anything Lupin is my go-to on a bad day. I know it's going to be funny, I know the "good guys" (whether or not Zenigata sees it that way) will win the day, and I know there's a lot of heart in every single version. It's hard to believe the gang's creator has passed on, but I'm also glad he got to see his work beloved by the world, and that it will continue strong for new fans.

  Series available on Crunchyroll:

>> Part 1

>> Part 2

>> Part 3

>> Part 4

>> Part 5

-----

Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!   

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[ezatluba]

Brazilian Forests Fall Silent as Yellow Fever Decimates Threatened Monkeys

Researchers are scrambling to understand the virulent outbreak, and backing policies to save several already beleaguered species

By André Duchiade on July 5, 2018

Karen Strier knew something was wrong as soon as she entered the patch of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais where she has been studying primates for 35 years. Instead of the usual deafening roar of howler monkeys, some of the most common monkeys in the region, there was an “eerie silence, like when something is wrong,” says the University of Wisconsin–Madison anthropologist. “It was stunning.” The animals had been silenced by the yellow fever virus, which had wiped out most of the local population of 500 howler monkeys.

Since Strier’s visit in 2017 yellow fever has spread amongst monkeys and humans from the Amazon, where it is endemic, to southeastern Brazil, becoming the biggest outbreak of the disease in 80 years. Although epidemiologists consider efforts to vaccinate the human population a success, inoculation is not currently practical for other primates. With the mortality rate reaching 90 percent in some of the 15 species of monkeys affected (including howler monkeys), the outbreak piles on top of the other threats such as habitat loss and poaching. It also raises concerns about long-term impacts on the ecology of the fragile Atlantic Forest, where only 12.4 percent of the original canopy remains—a deforestation process that has been ongoing since the first Portuguese explorers arrived at the beginning of the 16th century. “Once yellow fever reaches a forest, there’s nothing we can do to detain it. When that happens, we can simply watch how it spreads,” says biologist Sérgio Lucena Mendes, a professor at the Federal University of Espírito Santo and director of the National Atlantic Forest Research Institute who is working on measures to control the outbreak and save the monkeys.

LARGE LOSSES

Like Zika, yellow fever is a virus transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Since the 1980s it has periodically moved from the Amazon into rural regions of southern Brazil, staying active for two to three years before subsiding. When this last happened in 2008–09 the virus left a trail of more than 2,500 dead monkeys of various species, according to government estimates.

The latest outbreak in the southeast, which started in 2016, has been far more widespread and deadly to primates. Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported 4,575 suspected monkey deaths from yellow fever since May 2017, with 732 confirmed cases. Mendes estimates, though, that only 5 percent of all monkeys that perish from yellow fever are collected and registered (as most die out of sight in the forests) and suggests the official numbers are a major undercount.

Some of the monkey species susceptible to the disease have seen far more deaths than others, although the death rates are not known for every species. Black and brown howler monkeys—known for their booming guttural calls—are by far the most afflicted, with mortality rates reaching 90 percent in infected individuals, Mendes says. Eleven of the 15 affected species are under some threat of extinction, including the endangered lion tamarin and critically endangered muriqui (aka woolly spider monkey).

Scientists are still struggling to explain the rapid spread of the virus during this latest outbreak, as it swiftly leapfrogs among fragmented forest patches. The most feasible hypothesis—according to unpublished research by epidemiologist Cristina Possas and entomologist Ricardo Lourenço de Oliveira, both of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a public health research institution in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—is a combination of “complex biological, social and ecological changes in the last decades” that promoted a “significant increase in mosquito and monkey densities and their contacts with humans.”

Recent genomic tests have shown the virus has undergone mutations that could be related to its ability to infect and replicate in mosquitoes and monkeys, Lourenço says. Warmer temperatures could also have sped replication of the virus in its mosquito hosts, the researchers add. Those higher than normal temperatures, along with increased summer rains in recent years, may have also led to an increase in suitable habitats for mosquito larvae, so there could be more mosquitoes around to spread the disease. More people are also moving to, and visiting, the forest ecosystems where monkeys dwell. Unlike monkeys and mosquitoes, humans can travel large distances over short periods of time and are often asymptomatic when infected with yellow fever, making them a key vector for shuttling the diseases between forests and urban areas, according to Possas and Lourenço.

Deforestation and the accompanying loss of biodiversity may also play a role. The majority of registered yellow fever cases in monkeys were noted in small patches of remaining forest, says Marcia Chame, a biodiversity specialist also from Fiocruz. The few animals left must increasingly come together in search of food and habitat, which makes it easier for mosquitoes to bite multiple individuals.

In addition to decimating already threatened species, the outbreak could have ripple effects on the larger ecosystem in complex and potentially counterintuitive ways. For example, when species have robust populations and forests feature a wide variety of species, there is a greater chance mosquitoes will bite animals that are not as susceptible to the virus. “Biodiversity dilutes the transmission of diseases,” Chame says.

To further understand such effects, Strier plans to study how the loss of howler monkeys might affect muriquis, whose population fell by only 10 to 12 percent during the outbreak and might be faring better than other species. “I would expect that now that the forest is less crowded in the absence of howler monkeys, muriquis will have an easier life to find food” in the short term, she says. “But in the long term they might still suffer, because howler monkeys were very important seed dispersers.” If fewer seeds are dispersed with the disappearance of howler monkeys, muriquis could be left with less food. Primates can also act as both prey and predator for other species, so their loss can have ramifications up and down the food chain, says Danilo Simonini Teixeira, a primatologist at the University of Brasilia and former president of the International Primatological Society.

STOPPING THE VIRUS

Researchers are now focused on how to protect the surviving primate populations from this and future yellow fever outbreaks. Whereas widespread vaccination of monkeys is impractical, it could one day be deployed in populations confined in parks and forest reserves contiguous to urban areas, as well as in research animals. A pilot study of golden-headed lion tamarins and howler monkeys aimed at developing a vaccine for monkeys is currently in progress at Fiocruz’s Immunobiological Technology Institute (Biomanguinhos), the main producer of yellow fever vaccine in the world, in collaboration with the Rio de Janeiro Primatology Center. Instead of the shots and drops given to humans, “food containing recombinant vaccine, transgenic fruit and other technological alternatives,” could be deployed to administer the vaccine to monkeys, Lourenço says.

Mendes advocates several public policies that can be immediately implemented to curb the spread of the disease and build back diverse primate populations to improve their resilience. More sustained and precise monitoring of animal epidemics is needed, he says, to allow conservationists to step in before the virus hits an extremely endangered population. Maps showing when and where animals have perished would improve the understanding of how fast the epidemic is spreading, the paths it is following and when it is about to hit a forest, Mendes says. Where vulnerable populations are confined to small patches of forest, it could be possible to move the animals to a place not affected by an outbreak. More research is also needed into the ecology of the disease and the species of mosquitoes and other animals that harbor and spread the virus, to better be able to stop that cycle.

Vaccinating the human population is perhaps the most important policy, Mendes says, as it is the best way to stop yellow fever’s spread in all species. Humans travel over much greater distances than monkeys and mosquitoes, and are often unaware they are infected, which makes them a vehicle for the disease.

Working to prevent further deforestation and even reverse the fragmentation of the monkeys’ habitat should also be a priority, Mendes says, because it could allow forests to rebuild biodiversity. Of the areas hit by yellow fever, monkeys are rebounding better “where the forests are more robust,” he says. Chame agrees, noting that if monkeys are “fighting with other monkeys for food, having to migrate through vast distances to eat, they will have no chance” when also fending off the disease. “The greater the quality of the forest, the stronger the chance of survival.”