The 6th National Primate Count begins: a Citizen Science project to protect the monkeys of Costa Rica

Reading time 4 minutes

The Count is held from January 15 to 31 and will provide important data to assess the status of primate populations in Costa Rica. 

It is the sixth consecutive year that the National Primate Count is held, a citizen science project organized by the Non Profit Somos Congos and the Sustainable Development Postgraduate Program from the University of Costa Rica. 

The Count seeks to involve anyone with access to the internet and who is interested in contributing to the scientific creation of the country and subsequently to the conservation of the monkeys. The troops that pass through urban areas and that are observed on a daily basis can be reported and excursions can also be organized to locate the troops that are in the forests. 

Data can be entered via WhatsApp (you can access the group here), with the iNaturalist app for iPhone o Android and also on the website www.naturalistacr.go.cr. 

This talk explains how to enter data in the iNaturalist app and on the website (in Spanish):

To enter the data via WhatsApp you can find all the information in this video:

The data required is:
-Species
-Number of individuals
-If possible, sex and age
-Location (send Whatsapp location, not just write address)

En esta charla se puede aprender sobre las cuatro especies de monos presentes en Costa Rica y cómo reconocerlas. En el distrito de Cóbano podemos encontrar las especies Carablanca y Congo. 

With the data from the counts, maps that contribute to scientific production and to understanding the evolution of populations year by year are created. This is an example of the maps that are created from the data collected. 

Tell us, are you going to participate?

Note by Elena Parras, Founder of Santa Teresa Hoy