Buff-headed Capuchin
Cebus xanthosternos Wied-Neuwied, 1826
CR A2cd; C2a(i)

Unlike most other capuchin monkeys of the New World tropics, which are relatively common and abundant species, this endemic of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest region is considered seriously threatened with extinction. While firm estimates of remaining populations are unavailable, the buff-headed capuchin is known to be declining throughout its restricted range due to loss of its forest habitat, the primary cause, but also due to hunting and live capture as pets. Adult animals are relatively large-bodied (about 3 kg) and provide sufficient meat to warrant the cost of a shotgun shell, and young animals are popular as pets, until they grow large enough for the cooking pot. Surveys conducted earlier this decade confirmed this species’ restricted distribution in the southeast of the Brazilian state of Bahia (and possibly northern Minas Gerais), and its occurrence in the Una Biological Reserve and at least two experimental reserves. The species has, however, been extirpated over a large part of its former range and it is uncertain whether remaining populations are viable over the long-term.