By EFE
May 26, 2024, 10:00 PM EDT
The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), confirmed this Sunday the death of 157 howler monkeys in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas and said that it carries out “various preventive actions to avoid more monkey deaths.”
“According to the official report of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Profepa) as of May 22, there are 157 confirmed deaths: 125 in Tabasco in the municipalities of Cunduacán, Comalcalco, Jalapa, Cárdenas and Centro. And 32 in Chiapas in the municipalities of Juárez and Pichucalco,” Semarnat noted.
In the municipality of Comalcalco “nine specimens of the saraguato monkey were sheltered in the mobile unit established to help this species,” he added.
The agency reported that last Friday the federal environmental sector carried out a visit to the municipalities of Cunduacán and Comalcalco, “places where more than 80% of the deaths in Tabasco are recorded” and where, he said, he works with communities through different actions, including the installation of water fountains for wildlife.
While on Saturday, following health protocols, under the coordination of Profepa, “Specialists and the community released seven specimens, which were already in good health, to be reintroduced to their habitat”.
Currently, he specified, “a specimen with dehydration is under medical surveillance. “It is expected that, once recovered, he will also be released.”
Meanwhile, in the municipality of Cunduacán, 12 specimens are under medical care, three of which are in a delicate but stable condition and to ensure their rehabilitation they are cared for permanently, under the corresponding protocols.
Semarnat explained that it works in coordination with the different federal, state and municipal governments, academia and society, as well as with the support of a body of veterinarians to address this emergency.
Also, he said that jointly The corresponding arrangements are being made to have a central mobile unit in the facilities of the Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco.
In addition, “a protocol is developed for the immediate care of primates by the communities, organized civil society and government agencies in the territory, as well as to monitor and care for the species and its habitat.”
He recalled that the National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica) “is analyzing samples taken from the affected specimens to know precisely the causes of death.”
And he called on the population to, If you find possibly injured or dead monkeys, do not handle them directly and immediately notify local or federal authorities.
Last Friday, Semarnat said that different authorities carried out a tour of the Haciendas of Cholula and Cacaotera, with the presence and on-site care of monkeys, as well as the mobile clinics of the organization Conservation of the Biodiversity of Usumacinta (Cobius) Cunduacán and Comalcalco, and private lands also with the presence of monkeys, in the state of Tabasco.
It was precisely Cobius that a week ago reported the death of at least a hundred of these specimens.
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