VOA新闻杂志2023--Researcher Celebrates 40 Years of Protecting Rare Brazilian Monkeys

Researcher Celebrates 40 Years of Protecting Rare Brazilian Monkeys

Karen Strier is an American primatologist. It has been 40 years since she started studying Muriqui monkeys in Brazil. At the start, she was working on an advanced degree in anthropology¹ at Harvard University. She continues to study the animals today.

Muriquis are the largest monkeys in the Americas. Strier first started studying them in 1983 in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state. At the time, there were only about 50 of them in a large land area 200 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean.

The monkeys were losing their habitat, or living place, high up in the trees. Humans were cutting down the trees so they could sell their fruit and wood. As a result, the monkeys could only be found in a small area of preserved forest.

In the 1980s, many researchers centered their studies on monkeys and other primates² such as gorillas⁵ in Africa and Asia. Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall were known for their studies of mountain gorillas and chimpanzees at the time.

Those women said the animals lived in a male-dominated society. Fighting was common. One male gorilla⁴ would fight another to keep control over the group or take a leadership position. Males who lost the fights would be sent away from the group.

But in Brazil, the Muriquis seemed peaceful. Strier said the male and female⁷ monkeys were the same size –about 2 meters long and around 15 kilograms. Males lived close to each other and did not fight.

The monkeys were friendly with others in the group. In some cases, the females⁸ left their living groups in search of a mate³.

"I love them. They're beautiful animals," Strier said.

Strier said the Muriquis showed researchers that not all primates lived the same way. "I think (they) helped open that door to understanding better some of this diversity," she said.

She does her research in the 950-hectare Feliciano Miguel Abdala reserve. The area is about 500 kilometers north of Rio de Janeiro. In the time she has followed the monkeys, their population has grown to over 230. The females can only have babies once every three years, so growth is slow.

Russell Mittermeier is a primatologist with the environmental group Re:wild. He is who first introduced Strier to the monkeys. He said not many studies last for 40 years and are of such high quality.

Strier is now working to create protected areas in southeastern Brazil where the monkeys can get around safely. That means making sure sections of forest are preserved.

She wants this to happen so the population can grow larger and so the monkeys do not disappear if there is a sickness. Several years ago, she said, an outbreak of yellow fever killed about 100 monkeys over a period of five years.

Researchers are also looking for ways to encourage mating among the monkeys. In 2020, a relocation program moved some females into a protected area where there were only two males. The effort paid off. A baby was born. Once there are 12 monkeys in the family group, they will be released⁹ into the wild.

At a recent celebration of her work, Strier told the story of losing so many monkeys to yellow fever. She said the once noisy forest became quiet in a short time because so many monkeys died.

Strier told the gathering¹⁰ of primatologists, environmentalists and monkey-lovers that she is always worried her life's work could be wiped out by another sickness. She called the monkeys "fragile¹¹," and added, "We're not done."

Words in This Story

preserved –adj. kept safe from destruction¹²

primatologist–n. a scientist who studies primates, such as monkeys, apes and chimpanzees

dominate⁶ – v. to control or lead using force

diversity – adj. characteristics or qualities that are different

reserve– n. an area protected by law from development or destruction

encourage –v. to make a situation right for something to happen

fragile –adj. not strong, easily hurt or damaged

1 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

2 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

3 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

4 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

5 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dominate   

v.支配，统治，高出，俯视，在...中占首地位

参考例句：

• They had the ambition to dominate this small country.他们有控制这个小国的野心。
• The strong usually dominate over the weak.强者常常支配弱者。

7 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

8 females   

n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• The male birds are more colourful than the females. 这种鸟雄性比雌性更加色彩艳丽。
• The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼崽。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

10 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

11 fragile   

adj.易碎的，脆的，易损坏的，虚弱的，脆弱的

参考例句：

• The old lady was increasingly fragile after her operation.那位老太太手术后身体越来越虚弱。
• This glass disc looks very fragile.这个玻璃盘子看起来很容易碎。

12 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。