Report of an attack on a howler monkey <i>Alouatta sara</i> by a group of collared peccaries <i>Dicotyles tajacu</i> at a mammal clay lick in Madre de Dios, Peru

Abstract

Howler monkeys Alouatta are almost exclusively arboreal. They will, however, occasionally descend to the forest floor to conduct geophagy at clay licks if these are present within their home range. They do this to incorporate certain minerals into their diet and/or for detoxification purposes. Clay licks are risky areas however, especially for arboreal mammals, as visiting them requires the monkeys to leave the safety of the trees. This has been confirmed by observed predation attempts on howler monkeys by large felines at clay licks. We report an additional risk for howler monkeys descending to the forest floor that has not previously been considered, namely potential attacks by collared peccaries Dicotyles tajacu. Camera traps were placed at three different clay licks in the Taricaya Ecological Reserve, located in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon, to monitor the fauna within the reserve. On 4 June 2017, the camera traps registered a lethal attack on a howler monkey by a group of collared peccaries at one of the clay licks.