\u201cSafeguarding the Amazon is essential to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss, so we are trying to create something that can be widely replicated. We\u2019re starting in the buffer zones of protected areas with good levels of ecotourism, where we can make the largest gains for our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea of Wired Amazon was dreamed up by a collective of researchers, including Mark, and tour company Rainforest Expeditions, and the name refers to the project\u2019s goal of using cutting-edge technology to \u2018plug\u2019 the rainforest into the wider scientific world.<\/p>\n Rainforest Expeditions manages three lodges in the reserve, and guests and locals can participate in the science, their visits partly funding the project. In tandem with the roving recordings, the project also utilises 150 static microphones, positioned strategically throughout the forest.<\/p>\n These microphones record continuously, capturing thousands of hours of sound as wildlife passes through. AI algorithms, trained using the roving data, then analyse the static data. All this enables the project to correlate species distribution with human activities, offering valuable insight into the impact of disturbance.<\/p>\n \u201cTambopata Reserve is more than 270,000ha in size but there are only 50 rangers working here,\u201d says Jackeline, also the field coordinator of 8Primates.<\/p>\n \u201cCitizen science is a simple, inexpensive method of studying primates across the whole reserve \u2013 in the first year alone, we involved 360 people. Their input makes a huge difference to what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n I tune in to the calls of the red howlers, concentrating hard on what I\u2019m hearing. I\u2019m aiming to isolate six vocalisations associated with their most common behaviours, such as contact, food and alarm calls, plus the calls of juveniles learning how to communicate.<\/p>\n Red howlers can be heard from up to a kilometre away, says Jackeline, and at dawn their calls are frequently picked up on the mics.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the best time to record them as it\u2019s when they are most active,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re out looking for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n With their smart, russet coats catching the early sun as they bolt through the canopy, the howlers are arguably the stars of the show, but 8Primates is also monitoring seven other primates.<\/p>\n These are the shock- and large-headed capuchins, the Peruvian squirrel and spider monkeys, Azara\u2019s night monkey, Weddell\u2019s saddleback tamarin monkey and Toppin\u2019s titi monkey. Most belong to habituated wild groups that live along the Tambopata River and are accustomed to the presence of humans.<\/p>\n Howlers are able to vocalise at such magnitude thanks to their specialised hyoid bone, which works like a charm to amplify sound. We humans also have these U-shaped bones in our throats, but ours are tiny in comparison \u2013 howler hyoids are box-like and half the size of your palm. It\u2019s this design that produces that storm-like sound, acting as a resonating chamber to amplify low-pitched noises.<\/p>\n The larger the hyoid, the louder the monkey. Given that red howlers howl to protect territory and prevent other males from taking over their groups, it\u2019s a crucial adaptation.<\/p>\n Yet, interestingly, other species of howler, such as the black-and-gold and mantled howler, have adopted alternative strategies for passing on their genes. Some form coalitions with one or more fellow males, teaming up to defend territory. But this means sharing and competing for females.<\/p>\n \u201cThey compete by producing more sperm, for which they need bigger testicles \u2013 but you can\u2019t have everything,\u201d says Mark.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, they compromise by surrendering the size of their hyoid bone and, therefore, the volume of their howls. In short, the howlers with the loudest voices have the smallest testicles.\u201d<\/p>\n As we continue our journey through the forest, now in full daylight, a troupe of spider monkeys \u2013 one of the largest of the eight primates \u2013 engulfs the canopy, moving so quickly through the trees that I barely manage to point my dish at them in time.<\/p>\n As I listen, I attempt to count them. It\u2019s a large group, about 30 or 40-strong, but I\u2019m told the monkeys will splinter into sub-groups of up to 10 later in the day.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir most common call is a coo-coo-caw-coo when they are \u2018chatting\u2019, but it\u2019s a lower pitch than the howlers, so is more difficult to record,\u201d says Jackeline, delivering a perfect imitation of her subject.<\/p>\n The species\u2019 Quechuan name is maquisapa, which translates as \u2018big or long hands\u2019. With limbs and tails clinging to and snapping the vines, it\u2019s easy to see how these lively primates earned such a moniker.<\/p>\n \u201cThe length of their arms and legs often look so similar that when they jump, they are like tarantulas moving above you,\u201d says Jackeline.<\/p>\n We move on, heads bowed against several brief but torrential downpours. An 8Primates guide, Joss Silva Gomez, now takes the lead, expertly navigating a narrow, muddy trail. Before joining the team in 2010, Joss was a bushmeat hunter and gold-miner.<\/p>\n He is long accustomed to the lay of the forest and deeply attuned to its sights and sounds, picking out the plaintive, flute-like call of a broad-billed motmot and spotting a tiny poison dart frog complete with tadpoles on its back.<\/p>\n Suddenly, the vegetation morphs into a thick bamboo forest. Joss is just demonstrating how and where the shoots can be chopped to create flask-like receptacles from which the monkeys can drink, when a racket that resembles the braying of a donkey echoes through the air.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a Toppin\u2019s titi monkey making itself known, and that brazen hee-haw call is actually a duet, Jackeline tells me. The female sings the first part, the male the second. The couple sings together and mates for life, and some researchers say the stronger the synchrony of the call, the stronger the bond between the pair, with each partner taking turns to vocalise ever-louder hees and haws.<\/p>\n Though all eight primates are habituated, some are less expressive than others. The most challenging one to record is the shock-headed capuchin, a rare species at Tambopata, whose soft, nasal squeak is not easy to discern \u2013 particularly when the jungle\u2019s insects are at their loudest.<\/p>\n In 2024, the 8Primates team only observed this species four times, and only once managed to record its calls.<\/p>\n Leaving the bamboo behind, we soon come across a Brazil nut tree towering over us at more than 30m tall. This tree\u2019s produce, sought after around the world, is a vital resource, generating US$3\u20138 million annually and supporting more than 30,000 jobs in the Madre de Dios region.<\/p>\n The tree is known by the local Ese Eja people as \u2018mother of the jungle\u2019 and logging in the vicinity of Brazil nut trees is illegal.<\/p>\n Brazil nuts are only fertilised when growing in rainforests, meaning the nuts must be harvested in the Amazon rather than on commercial farms. The rights to harvest are owned as concessions by the Ese Eja, some rights going back centuries.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the most sustainable uses of the forest, along with responsible tourism,\u201d says Mark. \u201cComparing the diversity with the surrounding forest and monitoring through time is therefore a really useful thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Detecting the presence of chainsaws through audio research is a particularly important way to protect the Brazil nut tree. Noise data gathered by 8Primates informs the Ese Eja about illegal logging, helping them to monitor the habitat.<\/p>\n Heading back towards the research centre, I\u2019m pinching myself. It\u2019s not every day you get the chance to tune into the Amazon and eavesdrop on its iconic primates. It\u2019s exciting that people from so many walks of life are able to come together to safeguard this precious habitat.<\/p>\n \u201cLogging and mining are easy ways to earn money, but we want to offer alternatives and spread our knowledge through communities and tourists,\u201d says Jackeline.<\/p>\n \u201cConservation doesn\u2019t mean \u2018don\u2019t touch the forest\u2019, it means learning and improving. That\u2019s my dream.\u201d<\/p>\nTuning into calls<\/h2>\n
A forest full of noise<\/h2>\n
Protecting the \u2018mother of the jungle\u2019<\/h2>\n