Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico’s “monkey island.” The surviving primates could help scientists learn about the psychological response to traumatizing events. On Valentine’s Day, 2018, five months after Hurricane Maria made landfall, Daniel Phillips stood at the edge of a denuded forest on the eastern half of a 38-acre island […]
Desalinization Project
After a year in the making and five weeks of planning and construction, our desalination machine is up and running! In addition to creating this more sustainable solution to secure water provision for the Cayo Santiago Rhesus macaques, this will also help accelerate plans for the reconstruction of key structures […]
Studying Monkeys to See What Makes Humans Special
This is a fascinating look at Cayo Santiago – BEFORE Hurricane Maria! In episode nine of The Most Unknown, neuroscientist Anil Seth and cognitive psychologist Laurie R. Santos travel to Puerto Rico’s Cayo Santiago, a small island home to over a thousand monkeys, where scientists study primate cognition.
PR declares Cayo Santiago as Scientific Reserve
Caribbean Primate Research Center Gov. Ricardo Roselló signed Ley 128, “Ley para la Promoción Educativa y Scientifica de Colonia de Monos de Cayo Santiago.” The law, among others, is aimed at protecting the monkeys, researchers, and the general public from the transmission of diseases between humans and monkeys. Common human […]
Message on the 80th Anniversary of Cayo Santiago
2018 marks the 80th anniversary of the Cayo Santiago Field Station and the first anniversary from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria. CPRC confronted the challenges of recovering from the disaster and ensured that Cayo Santiago continues to be a center of research excellence. The success of the recovery was […]
CPRC conducts workshop with pre-school kids
The CPRC staff conducted a mini-seminar with the students of the Centro de Desarollo Preescolar de Administracion Central of UPR. The children learned about primates and their complex social and emotional lives. Through a hands-on activity, they were also taught the basics of research and veterinary care done in our […]
Puerto Rico recovery status: Progress after Hurricane Maria is uneven across island
By Rick Jervis, USA Today PUNTA SANTIAGO, Puerto Rico – The fishing pier jutting off the beach in this small fishing community was once the hub of local activity. Today, it sits in splinters. Blue tarps cover rows of roofs on nearby concrete homes, and the beachside fish shack, which […]
On Hurricane Maria Anniversary, Puerto Rico Is Still in Ruins
In late August, a team of New York Times journalists visited Punta Santiago, a small town in southeast Puerto Rico near where Hurricane Maria made landfall. They documented the damage that remains from the storm in more than 150 homes. People here have waited months for repairs with little relief. […]
Another Small “Victory”
Photos by Justin Schmidt and team, submitted by Jordana Lenon, University of Wisconsin-Madison In late August 2018, a team of six volunteers from four different National Primate Research Center (NPRC) facilities arrived in Punta Santiago to assist the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC). They expanded and enclosed two of the […]
Puerto Rico Changed The Hurricane Maria Death Toll From 64 To Nearly 3,000 People
Puerto Rico Changed The Hurricane Maria Death Toll From 64 To Nearly 3,000 People By Nidhi Prakash Researchers also found residents weren’t adequately prepared and that doctors were confused about how to classify the dead. Puerto Rico raised the official death toll for Hurricane Maria from 64 to nearly 3,000 […]