718 F. R. de Melo et al.
stimulate natural foraging practices of the northern muri- qui. We offered leaves on all menus. We mostly offered foods high in protein, energy, fat, vitamins and minerals in the morning, and mostly offered vegetables in the after- noons. The northern muriquis also supplemented their diets by sampling the plants growing in the enclosure. We used environmental enrichments to maintain the
health, quality of life and behavioural repertoire of the nor- thern muriquis. These enrichments included providing natural food items for their menus, which we collected from the surrounding forests, constructing support struc- tures to encourage their natural suspensory locomotion, and attaching provisioned fruit below branches to stimu- late natural foraging postures (Iurck et al., 2013). Throughout daylight hours, trained observers monitored
the northern muriquis, collecting behavioural data using scan and focal animal samples following the ethogram and sampling protocols established from long-term field studies of the behaviour and ecology of a wild northern muriqui population (Strier, 1999). The northern muriquis engaged in affiliative behaviours and vocalizations typical of this species in the wild, including extended, intense af- filiative embracing between the two males. Thus, as anti- cipated, the enclosure facilitated social interactions not only amongst the two males, who were already familiar with one another, but also amongst the females and between the males and females. During November 2019–February 2020 we observed BER-IB copulating twice with each of the two females. In February 2020 we released the northernmuriquis into
the forested area of the Muriqui House complex, where we maintained their provisioned diet but where they also for- aged on naturally occurring plants. Once released into the forest of Muriqui House we observed BER-IB copulating with ECO-S during 8–19 March 2020. ECO-S gave birth to her first infant, ELI-IB, on 3 November 2020, 229 days after her last observed copulation (Plate 1). This is longer than the median 216 days gestation length (range: 214.5–218.5 days) described from faecal steroid analyses of a larger sample of wild females (Strier & Ziegler, 1997), suggesting that at least one subsequent copulation, which was responsible for the conception, had been missed by observers. On 12 November 2020 we translocated a third solitary
female (NEN-PNC), estimated to be c. 5 years of age, from the Caparaó region, in Espírito Santo State, Brazil, where one of the largest northern muriqui populations is located (Clyvia et al., 2020). As with the other northern muriquis, we initially released NEN-PNC into the enclosure to ac- climatize, and on 18 January 2021 we released her into the forested part of the Muriqui House complex. Consistent with the pattern of social integration observed amongst im- migrant female northern muriquis in the wild (Strier et al., 2015), NEN-PNC initially associated with the males, avoided the females and engaged in playful interactions
with the infant. There are now six northern muriquis in this newly established group. There are many difficulties intrinsic to a project of this
size, such as the availability of specialized personnel and the construction and maintenance of structures. There are also challenges inherent in artificially manipulating the for- mation of a group of animals with a complex social system. Nonetheless, we have shown the feasibility of managing male northernmuriquis from the same natal group with fe- males from different locations to establish a new social group with demonstrated reproductive potential. Our suc- cess was based on promoting social interactions consistent with the natural behaviour of the species in a setting that permits us to monitor their behaviour, nutrition and health. The consolidation of this new social group offers hope for the repopulation of northern muriquis in the forests of Ibitipoca and for the maintenance of their genetic diversity. The experiences obtained from this approach could also be useful for similar initiatives for the conservation of other reduced populations of northern muriquis and other primates.
Author contributions Study design: FRdM, FPT, MSN, MV-M, LSM, KBS, LJ; fieldwork: FRdM, FPT, PMP, MSN, EPTT, DS-T; data analysis, writing: FRdM, FPT, PMP, MSN, EPTT, DS-T, MV-M, KBS, LJ; funding acquisition: FRdM, FPT, MSN, KBS.
Acknowledgements We thank Renato Machado, Beto Nardelli, Raquel Pazos and the Ibiti Projeto (SISBIO License No. 64.438-6) for permissions and financial support; the Mohamed bin Zayed Conservation Fund and Fundação Grupo Boticário for financial support to FRdM; the Taxon Advisory Group of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums for financial support to KBS; the Instituto Estadual de Florestas de Minas Gerais and Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade for logistical sup- port; the Universidade Federal de Viçosa for logistical support and scholarships for Uslaine Cunha and Priscila Oliveira, who helped with data collection; the Muriqui Institute of Biodiversity for logistical and administrative support; the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca (Clarice Silva) for technical support; NGO Eco-Diversa (Mariane Kaizer, Aryanne Clyvia and Daniel Ferraz) for their support and help with Nena's capture; Adriana Milagres, Aline Barbosa, Brittany Berger, Daniel Vilela, Eutálio Pimenta, Izabela Secco, José Vicente, Júlio César, Junior Reis (Juninho), Lara Mendes, Larissa Calais, Laura Castro, Mikaelly Frasson, Paulo Mangini, Reginaldo Fagundes, Tatiane Vivian, Theo Anderson, Thiago Barros, Thiago Gomide, Valéria Ribeiro, Vinícius Gasparotto and Viviane Sodré for technical support; Luciana Pacca (ICMBio/CPB) for Fig. 1; Pedro Lima and Nilson Menezes Almeida for help collecting botanical samples; André L. Pereira for identifying plant species; Murilo Maia for support with the diet and nutrition of the northern muriquis; and Fabiana C.S.A. de Melo for advising the undergraduate students who worked on the project.
Conflicts of interest None.
Ethical standards This research complied with all ethical require- ments in Brazil (Process SISBIO License no. 64.438-6; CEUA UFMG 163/2020) and abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards.
Data availability Data available upon request to the authors. Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 715–719 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324000644
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