813-471-8810 [email protected]

The Reintroduction of Woolly Monkeys into Nature

by | May 17, 2017 | Monkeys, Rehabilitation | 2 comments

The Reintroduction of Woolly Monkeys into Nature

Dorilla and two siblings (Andrea and Steven) were small infants when they were confiscated from the illegal pet traffic in Belen floating market in Iquitos. At the time we were friends with the officer who confiscated them and he gave them to us to raise at our tourist lodge on the Tahuayo River. The visitors to the lodge loved to see these happy, affectionate little monkeys, but within a year they had grown to be large, strong and aggressively curious. One time Dorilla ripped the screen off the top off of the bathroom of a woman tourist and climbed down to sit on her lap while she was on the toilet.

At this point we knew we had to find an appropriate situation in the jungle for them.  We felt that they should not be introduced into a wild ranging woolly monkey troop. Lodge owner Dolly Arevalo Shapiama had an idea to form a collaboration with the people of the tiny village called San Pedro. San Pedro sits on a small tributary of the Tahuayo River, about 7-8 meters wide; on the other side of the river is a nice forest with many fruiting trees and legumes that form the diet of woolly monkeys. Dolly offered to pay the village a monthly stipend to make sure the woolly monkeys would not be hunted or otherwise harmed by people.

At first the monkeys were doing fine, but about a year later a Harpy Eagle killed Steven.  Dorilla and Andrea must have learned to be more cautious because they lived unharmed for several years thereafter, until Andrea succumbed to illness and died in 2011.  Then Dorilla was alone. She seemed very lonely as every time our boats passed by her home, en route to visit the poison dart frogs of Frog Valley, Dorilla would call us to stop, jump onto the boat, check all of our bags and backpacks for food, then present herself to be groomed by tourists on the boat. So at this time we started to make it a point to stop and interact with Dorilla every time we brought people to Frog Valley.

The woolly monkey Chepa was kept as a pet in the village of Esperanza, on the lower Tahuayo River.  The family has a child who is paralyzed as a result of polio.  As part of Dolly’s work with her Angels of the Amazon foundation, www.angelsoftheamazon.com Dolly provided special bed, chair and other facilities and services to help the child and his family. But Dolly never liked to see how the pet monkey was kept, always tied by a rope, that left open infectious wounds.  The monkey was always obviously in pain.  For 4 years, every time Dolly visited the home she would ask the mother to give her Chepa. The mother never agreed, saying that her stricken son loved his pet, until March of 2012, with the monkey appearing near death, she agreed.  Dolly took Chepa to a veterinarian in Iquitos who treated the infected wounds. After she had recovered, Chepa was brought to the main lodge to be raised as Dorilla was.  Although it was several years old, because of malnutrition and abuse, she was only the size of a baby woolly monkey.

We had planned to keep Chepa for several months, but she seemed either very afraid or very angry at the presence of people.  So we didn’t know what else to do except maybe introduce her to Dorilla in her forest home off the Blanco River.  Knowing that woolly monkeys may kill strange woolly monkeys we were very anxious about doing this, and ready to intervene.  Upon releasing Chepa into a tree by the river’s edge, Dorilla immediately climbed down to her.  Chepa looked terrified.  But Dorilla made soothing vocalizations, hugged her and comforted her. It was amazing to see.  After a few minutes Dorilla climbed down to the boat to get some bananas.  She called to Chepa, but the little female was too wary and kept her distance.  Then Dorilla took a banana up into the tree, peeled it and gave it to Chepa! Dorilla continued to bring Chepa her food on our visits, until about 3 weeks, at which time Chepa gained confidence to come to the boat on her own.

The people in all of the Tahuayo villages have come to know how much our tourists love the rescued monkeys on the Blanco River.  So a couple of months ago a man from the village of El Chino approached Dolly and said he had a relative in a village in another tributary system of the Amazon, who had a little male woolly monkey named Rocky.  He thought it would be nice if the two females had a male companion.  He acquired the monkey from his relative and gave to Dolly in August 2013.  We brought him to a veterinarian to make sure he had no disease or parasites to infect the others and then released him at the Rio Blanco site.  Both females immediately accepted him.

By 2016 Rocky had reached maturity and in May of 2016 we discovered that Dorilla had given birth. Thereafter when boats stopped Dorilla reacted aggressively and we felt there was a danger to tourists. In late May we captured Dorilla and her infant and transported them to our research center lodge,some 40 km distant from where she had been living. Under the watch of our staff biologists we released the monkeys near to a wild troop of woolly monkeys. Over the next month the wild monkeys accepted them into the troop. We have continued to see Dorilla and young with the wild troop from time to time.

Paul Beaver, Ph.D.

President and Founder of Amazonia Expeditions

2 Comments

  1. Dean Wight
    Dean Wight on October 7, 2017 at 11:02 am

    Our group of travelers met Dorilla and Chepa in early May, 2013. It was a highlight of our visit! Wonderful to hear their continued story.

  2. Nelda Carinder
    Nelda Carinder on March 10, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    Oh what a great story!! I loved “meeting” Dorilla!! Some time I would like to hear Dorilla’s approximate age and life expectancy. Thank you, Paul and Dolly! Nelda Carinder

Estefani Mishel Maytahuari

Mishel got her degree in tourism from Nauta Institute in 2016. After working as a guide with other companies, Mishel came to study with Amazonia Expeditions as a training guide in 2023. Mishel was promoted to head guide in 2025.

Leyner Arian Ijuma

Leyner got his degree as a tour guide in 2010 at the Nauta Institute and came to work at Amazonia Expeditions in 2021. He was promoted to head guide in 2023. He has biological field work experience from supporting Nicholas Gardner of the University of Florida who he helped study the adaptations of birds in seasonally flooded igapo forests. Birding is one of Leyner's strongest skills.

Julio Pacaya

Julio finished his studies as a tour guide at the Nauta Institute in 2016 and came to work as a training guide with Amazonia Expeditions in 2021. He was promoted to head guide in 2023. Nature photography and birding are among Julio's strongest skills. Julio is fluent in English and French, as well as his native tongue of Spanish.

Claudio Huayllahua Sánchez

Claudio was born and grew up in El Chino Village on the Tahuayo River. He studied primary school in El Chino and continued his education in Iquitos, earning a technical degree from SENATI Institute. He started working for Amazonia Expeditions in 2014 as a field research assistant with several biologists and as an assistant guide. Claudio was promoted to head guide in 2017 and is our camping and jungle survival specialist.

Hersog Chavez Yuyarima

Hersog first got the idea of becoming a guide after watching the tourist boats going by his village every day. He was fascinated that tourists would come to see his home and he loved the way that the guides he saw did their work. He knew that someday he wanted to be just like them. Hersog studied at technical school for 3 years leaning the basics of guiding. After graduating, Hersog worked as a guide for several years working with Peruvian tourists, later coming to work for Amazonia in 2017. Hersog was promoted to head guide in 2019. He has worked as a field research assistant in the study of the elusive pygmy marmoset. Hersog is known for his sharp eyes and his unique stories about the jungle.

Lander Juan Peña Ramirez

Lander was born in the remote jungle community of Santa Victoria. His boyhood dream was to become to best jungle guide in the Amazon. Lander studied at a local institute for several years where he learned basic English and the foundations of the being a tour guide. Later he worked for several years at other jungle loges as a guide, honing his skills as a survival camping guide. Lander came to work for Amazonia Expeditions in 2017 and along with a strong interest in birding and fishing is also one of our lead camping and survival guides.

Aladino Jr. Hidalgo

Aladino was born and raised in El Diamante Village along the Blanco River and attended school in the community of “Valentin” on the Tahuayo River. During this period, Aladino worked with his father as a trailblazer, assisting primate researchers who came to study at a local field station. Afterwards, he moved to Lima where he worked for several years while studying guiding & English. Upon returning in 2019, he was hired by Amazonia as a field assistant and actively supported researchers studying giant river otters, pygmy marmosets, and various bird species. He then joined Amazonia Expeditions as a guide assistant and was later promoted to head guide in 2022.

Jhony Hidalgo

Jhony was born and raised in El Diamante Village along the Blanco River. He attended primary school in his home village and high school in the community of “Valentin” on the Tahuayo River. Jhony later pursued further studies in Iquitos, where he obtained a guide degree from the Milagro Fe & Alegria Institute. After graduating, he worked at the Amazon Rescue Center in Iquitos (CREA), guiding visitors to the center. In 2021 he joined Amazonia Expeditions as a guide assistant and was promoted to head guide in 2023.

Sila Hidalgo

Sila was born and raised in El Diamante Village along the Blanco River. She attended primary school in Diamante village and high school in the community of “El Chino” on the Tahuayo River. Her family moved to El Chino so Sila could attend high school, as it was the closest village offering secondary education. Later, Sila joined our Angels (AoA) scholarship program to further her education in Iquitos, where she earned a guide degree from the Milagro Fe & Alegria Institute. She completed her internship at Tahuayo Lodge. After graduating, Sila began her career with Amazonia Expeditions as a guide assistant and was promoted to head guide in 2022.

Welister Perez

Welister grew up in the small community of Padre Cocha just outside of Iquitos City. He lived there for most of his life, and later worked at several jungle lodges before starting at Amazonia Expeditions. Welister has proven himself as both a talented jungle man and team player with an eagle eye for spotting wildlife. After several months of training with Amazonia he was promoted to a head guiding position in 2017.

Javier Anibal Alván Arévalo

Javier has worked at the Amazonia Expeditions lodges for 10 years, starting as a young teenager as an assistant in building repair, then moving up to motorboat pilot, then camping assistant and assistant guide, and after passing his guide exams with high grades was promoted to head guide in 2014. Javier is also our Canopy Zipline specialist and has taken professional certification classes in Costa Rica. Javier is also a fishing specialist and is beloved by families with children.