Researchers in Panama observed capuchin monkeys engaging in what appears to be kidnapping behavior by carrying howler monkey infants. The study, conducted using over 80 cameras, unexpectedly recorded these interactions between 2022 and 2023, with capuchins seen with howler babies on their backs. Despite academic curiosity around the monkeys' motivations for this behavior, it raises questions about interspecies interactions. Most howler infants in the footage were too young to survive without their mothers, highlighting the tragic outcomes of these actions. Findings were published in Current Biology, igniting further exploration into this unusual behavior.
Our window into this story is constrained, said co-author Margaret Crofoot of Max Planck and the Smithsonian.
We've not seen anything like this in the animal kingdom, said Zoe Goldsborough, a behavioural ecologist at the Max Planck Institute.
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