Abstract
The existence of chromatic aberrations such as leucism or albinism is
the result of inbreeding in isolated populations of wild local fauna and
is associated with environmental stressors. This anomaly may reduce
survival rates. There are many cases of leucism in wildlife, but
overall, it is considered very rare. In neotropical primates, there have
been records of leucism but previously, in howler monkeys was unknown.
In this article, we report for the first time leucistic young
individuals of Mantled howler monkeys Alouatta palliata,
subspecies A. p. aequatorialis in an isolated remanent of
tropical dry forest in southwestern Ecuador, namely Cerro Blanco
Protective Forest. In total, we found two individuals, we named them
Albita (a female) and Japu (a male). We also include a spatial analysis
of the covert forest loss between 2000 to 2020. The report of
individuals with leucism, may imply inbreeding because of isolated
populations. Thus, immediate management strategies must be considered to
significantly increase connectivity with other populations of howler
monkeys.