Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)

2014. 01, 05
Affiliation/Position

Primate Research Institute/D2

Name

Rafaela Sayuri Cicalise Takeshita

1. Country/locationofvisit
Brazil, São Paulo (USP)/Belém (CENP)
2. Research projectCurrent situation of primatology in Brazil: prospects for a future collaboration

3. Date (departing from/returning to Japan)
2014.12.22– 2014. 01. 07 (17days)
4. Main host researcher and affiliation
Dr. Mariana Fogaça, University of São Paulo/ Dr. Paulo Castro, National Primate Center (Belém)
5. Progress and results of your research/activity(You can attach extra pages if needed)
Please insert one or more pictures (to be publicly released). Below each picture, please provide abrief description.

One week after I finished my fieldwork at Jigokudani Monkey Park, I escaped from the cold weather of Japan to thetropical climate of Brazil.
It had been 2 years since I had last visited my home country, when I attended the International Workshop on Tropical
Biodiversity, organized by WRC and INPA. At that time, the participants of the Workshop visited many interesting
places in Amazonas. We could see many species of mammals (including primates), fishes, reptiles, and plants. I also
took that opportunity to visit my old school at Belém, UFRA (Federal Rural University of Amazon) and give a talkabout my experience in Japan (scholarships, admission procedures, etc.) for the undergraduate students.
The primary purpose of this trip was to discuss research with other primatologists, not only from UFRA and CENP(National Primate Center), but also from the University of São Paulo (USP), as well as to promote the Leading Programin Primatology and Wildlife Science. While in Brazil, I met with some people who might be interested in collaboratingwith Dr. Imai (see below).
I decided to visit São Paulo after the IPS Congress in Vietnam, where I met primatologists from the department ofPsychology of USP during the meetings. Many of those researchers have been working on similar topics to myresearch, but studying Neotropical primates. Through this opportunity, I could meet them and talk about common
interests and prospects for future research. I also visited the laboratory of hormonal analysis (Figure 1) and found outthat they also have partnerships with hormonal laboratories at Vienna, where I intend to do more of my analysis. I also
learned about the field sites for research on capuchin monkeys in the north and south of Brazil. Hopefully I will have achance to visit all of them someday. Dr. Mariana Fogaça and Dr. Olivia Mendonça are both working with Dr. Patrícia
Izar, and they all are willing to help however they can if we need to conduct any research at USP or at the field sites inthe future.

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Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)

Figure 1.Dra. Mariana (left) and Dra. Olívia (right) at USP analyzing cortisol from human saliva.
Finally, I briefly visited Butantan Institute, a biomedical research center located nearthe campus ofthe Universityof SãoPaulo. I observed the housing condition of some of the animals raised there, mostly snakes (Figure 2), but I also saw anenclosure of rhesus monkeys, and I was surprised to see their conditions. They were kept individually, in cages madefrom concrete, and I saw dermatological problems in some animals (Figure 3). Unfortunately I could not visit any zoosin São Paulo, but I do hope the animals have better environment. If not, it is definitely something that needs
improvement. I hope that my research on hormones and health in Japanese monkeys can provide guidance to assistingin monitoring the health of primates in Brazil.

Figure 2. Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) at Butantan Institute, São Paulo.

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Figure 3. Enclosure of rhesus monkeys (Macacamulatta) at Butantan Institute, São Paulo.
From São Paulo, I flew to Belém, located in the core of Amazônia. There, I had two missions: (1) give a talk at theNational Primate Center (CENP) about my research and future plans with PWS, and (2) invite a possible future PWS
collaborator to join our annual meetings in early March in Japan.
The Center is located in Ananindeua City, about 30 min from the center of Belém. Currently, the center holds about 600
animals of 24 species of nonhuman primates. The largest colonies are of Aotus infulatus, Sapajus apella, Saimiri
collinsi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix penicillata, Alouatta caraya, and the only non-South American species,
Chlorocebus aethiops. CENP is a governmental organization that develops research for the conservation of primatesand public health. The center is the place for many studies on diseases such as malaria, hepatitis, dengue fever, yellow
fever and Leishmania. Also, there are studies on stem cells, primate behavior, vision and color perception, physiology,
clinical pathology, and biotechnology of reproduction.
Despite the fact that many people use the end of the year to take holidays, a considerable number of researchers
attended my talk and showed interest in my research and in the PWS program (Figure 4). I talked about my previous
studies from my Master thesis, my ongoing research and future plans, and I received some very good comments. Some
researchers proposed future collaborations to extend my studies. At the end of my presentation, I talked briefly about
Prof. Imai’s work on taste receptors in wild marmosets because last time he came to Brazil he was not able to visit
CENP. I explained his plans to conduct research in Brazil. Although it was not my field, the audience showed particularinterest on Prof. Imai’s hypothesis, and suggested other similar species that could be interesting for his work.

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Figure 4. Oral presentation at CENP, Ananindeua
As for the potential PWS collaborator, I decided to invite Prof. Ednaldo Filho (Figure 5), from the Department ofGenetics and Molecular Biology at UFRA. We talked about his ongoing studies on nutritional aspects of Saguinus
fuscicollis, and he sounds very keen and happy to introduce this study and his department to our colleagues in Japan. Heand Prof. Imai have common interests in primate research, and they have been in contact since Prof. Imai started hisplans to go to Brazil. I believe he is a good candidate to represent UFRA and he will help to strengthen the bonds
between our institutions.
This trip was very productive for my current and future research, as well as to promote the collaboration between Brazil
and Japan in primatology. Next time, I would like to invite my advisors to visit the Brazilian institutions and the fieldsites, so they can have a clear vision of the current situation of the research conditions in the country, and perhaps comeup with new ideas for future work.

Figure 5. Sayuri and Prof. Ednaldo Filho

6. Acknowledgements
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Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Matsuzawa, my advisors Prof. Michael Huffman and Prof.
Bercovitch, Prof. Yumoto, Prof. Imai, Dra. Mariana Fogaça, Dra. Olívia Mendonça, Dr. Paulo Castro, Dr. Ednaldo
Filho, the staffs from CENP and my family for supporting me. This trip was supported by PWS.	 

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