The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in wild New World monkeys (Cebus sp. and Alouatta caraya). A total of 93 animals (Cebus sp., n = 68 and Alouatta caraya, n = 25) were captured in the Paraná River basin, Paraná State, Brazil and the serum samples were analyzed by ELISA and immunodiffusion using P. brasiliensis gp43 and exoantigen as antigens, respectively. The seropositivity observed by ELISA was 44.1% and 60% for Cebus sp. and A. caraya, respectively, while by immunodiffusion test Cebus sp. showed positivity of 2.9% only. No significant difference was observed in relation to age and sex. This is the first report of paracoccidioidomycosis in wild capuchin monkeys and in wild-black and golden-howler monkeys. The high positivity to P. brasiliensis infection in both species evaluated in our study and the positivity by immunodiffusion test in Cebus sp. suggest that natural disease may be occurring in wild monkeys living in paracoccidioidomycosis endemic areas.

Howlers (genus Alouatta) are widely captured with the use of anesthetic projectiles; however, no capture protocol involving the use of traps has been described to date. In the present study we describe the first efficient capture program for black and gold howlers (Alouatta caraya) using traps, which was implemented on the islands of the upper Paraná River in southern Brazil. We constructed two trap models with either manual or automatic activation (trap A with two entrances and guillotine-type doors; trap B with one entrance and a guillotine-type door). The traps were suspended in the canopy by means of vertical climbing techniques, and were baited regularly and abundantly with bananas and mangoes. We captured 70 howlers (86% using manual activation and 14% using automatic activation) on four different islands. We restrained 41 of these animals and measured their body mass, which averaged 5.30 kg+/-1.79. Given our results, we suggest that the system described in the present study represents an alternative capture program for howlers in areas that have low food diversity and no other mammal species that will compete for the bait, as has been observed in riparian environments, islands, and forest fragments.

Valores hematológicos de bugios pretos (Alouatta caraya) de vida livre da região do AltoRio Paraná, sul do Brasil [Hematologic values of free-ranging black-and-gold 46±3.53 and 36.69±3.54%) and plasma total protein (7.91±0.53 and 7.40±0.63g/dL) were lower in juveniles.

Researchers consider predation rates by terrestrial animals to be lower in the case of arboreal primates, particularly among large-bodied species. We recorded the consumption of black-and-gold howlers(Alouatta caraya) by cougars (Puma concolor) as evidence of predation on an island of the upper Paraná River. We collected and processed fecal samples of the felid in 2004 and 2005. We identified items in the laboratory by comparison with museum specimens. We considered each species in a fecal sample as a single occurrence. Based on analysis of the cuticle scale pattern, we identified the felid as cougar. Howlers occurred in 4 out of the 8 fecal samples (40% of the occurrences). In addition to howlers, we also recorded 5 occurrences of agouti (Dasyprocta azarae; 50%) and a small unidentified sigmodontine 1 This work is contribution 1590 39 0164-0291/07/0200-0039/0 C 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 40 Ludwig et al. rodent (10%). The abundance of howlers and the low forest canopy in a successional vegetation might have facilitated the predation of the large primates by a primarily terrestrial predator. The versatility of cougars is corroborated by the consumption of prey species that were abundant in the region and thatwere available in different forest strata, such as howlers and agoutis.

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 1 Klabin S.A., Manejo Ambiental, Fazenda Monte Alegre, Lagoa s/no.231 0164-0291/07/0200-0231/0 C 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 232 Rocha et al.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 R . 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. We captured 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 the genus Cebus throughout 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.

Este trabalho relata um caso de tentativa de infanticídio por um macho residente e dominante de um grupo de Alouatta caraya (Humboldt, 1812) em um infante extra-grupo, em ilha do rio Paraná, Paraná, Brasil. O encontro do par fêmea-infante com o macho residente foi propiciado pela interferência humana. Devido às circunstâncias em que ocorreu o fato e a posição hierárquica do agressor, a hipótese de patologia social pareceu plausível na explicação do comportamento.