habitat that should be conserved for the wellbeing of the Ecuadorian capuchin and other species, further conservation should focus on the Ecuadorian and Tumbes-Piura tropical dry forests. The area deemed the most important to conserve for the Ecuadorian capuchin is located along the Chongón-Colonche range of coastal mountains in the Guayas and Manabí provinces of Ecuador, this area is chosen due to having a greater extent of continuous and/or undisturbed forest, and the success rate of conservation is favourable as it already has some kind of protection already. Relationship With Humans There has been a long history of capuchin and human relationships as humans kept them in captivity, like zoos, because of their highly amicable social behaviours and manipulative skills. In addition to captivity, the Ecuadorian capuchin is highly targeted for animal trafficking which contributes to an immediate stop to its gene flow. A negative relationship between humans and the Ecuadorian capuchin is the threat from farmers as the capuchin forages their crops, the common crops that they forage are corn, bananas, plantain and cacao. Parasites Martin et al. studied captive and free-ranging groups of capuchins in the Western Amazon, Ecuador to determine how they are affected by gastrointestinal parasites. The results indicated that 6 parasites were detected across 26 animals where Strongyloides were the most prevalent parasite. According to their study, both groups were in contact with humans who provided food to the primates which forced the primates to spend more time on the ground. This species is an arboreal primate but spends 70% of its time on the ground, making parasite transmission easier since the ground increases the possibility of parasite transmission when larvae come into contact with the skin. Other contributing factors to higher parasite transmission were associated with monkeys drinking from a creek that was contaminated with human feces which came from a nearby village. This study and other studies have demonstrated human interaction with this species increase the possibility of parasite transmission. References External links Mammals of Ecuador Ecuadorian capuchin Primates of South America Capuchin monkeys Ecuadorian capuchin