Predation of birds in mist nets by callitrichids (primates): how to prevent similar events

Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: moving from invasive to non-invasive methods

“…These damages can range from skin abrasions to broken limbs (Phillips et al 1996, Fleming et al 1998, Grisham et al 2015. Trapped animals are also vulnerable to predation (Hilario et al 2017).…”

Birds trapped in mist nets killed by opportunistic predators in a forest in Southwestern Amazonia

“…This conclusion is supported by the markings left on the carcasses and also by the fact that mist nets are within the territory of these species on the days the birds were preyed. Several studies reported primates as the main predators of birds trapped in mist nets (Silva et al, 2008;Hilário & Ferrari, 2010;Hilário et al, 2017;Melo et al, 2018). However, we report for the first time the species Toppin's titi monkey -Plecturocebus toppini preying on birds trapped in the mist nets.…”

“…However, birds immobilized in mist nets become easy prey for primates that are attracted due to the birds' alarm vocalizations (Ross, 2010). One recommendation for decreasing primate predation is to avoid primate access to mist nets (Hilário et al, 2017). Primates may have access to prey by branches close to nets, so cutting these branches is an easy and simple way to avoid predation by this group of animals (Hilário et al, 2017).…”

“…The efficiency of mist nets in capturing these animals makes them one of the most used tools in avifauna and chiropterofauna studies (Roos, 2010;Castro et al, 2011;Ruiz-Esparza, 2012). Although effective for research, these traps have a side effect that is the exposure of animals trapped to predation risk (Hilário et al, 2017).…”

Predation of an American fruit-eating bat (Artibeus sp.) by an Amazon tree boa (Corallus hortulanus) in the northern Brazilian Amazon

“…Escarlate-Tavares and Pessôa 2005), and the collection of opportunistic observations of predation in the wild (e.g. Carvalho et al 2016;Hilário et al 2017;Serra-Gonçalves et al 2017). Knowledge is particularly scarce on the interaction of bats as prey and their predators in Brazil (Costa et al 2016), mainly because of the difficulty in making direct observations of predation events (Silva and Henderson 2012).…”