The Trouble
The jungle canopy is significant for the animals that live in trees, like monkeys or sloths. They have no trouble moving around above the land. However, as cities grow, so does their electricity infrastructure. So, monkeys often come across power lines while searching for food or confuse the lines with branches of trees. Power lines and transformers that aren't covered can look like the paths monkeys use to climb trees, making them very dangerous. And if they touch both lines (because they usually move from one branch to the other), the electricity crosses their bodies and produces several injuries.

What happens to a monkey that is electrocuted?
Electrocution is very dangerous for monkey groups for many reasons. First, it could kill immediately or seriously hurt animals, causing burns, amputations, or damage to internal systems. Second, it affects a larger group. If a mother monkey gets hurt or killed, her babies may also be injured. These things may make it much harder for monkey communities to reproduce and stay alive. When monkey numbers drop, the natural order is upset. Monkeys and other animals are essential to a healthy and diverse environment because they spread seeds and cover other ecological labors.

Aims to Reduce the Problem
Because the situation is so severe, Costa Rica has started several programs to help people and animals live together peacefully and to lower the risk of electrocution. Here are some examples: - Putting protection around power lines has worked, especially in places with lots of wildlife. Non-governmental groups (NGOs) and the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) have been working together to replace old power lines with new ones that are safer for wildlife. Here is where Shok Free Zone, the project created by Jaguar Rescue Center, is one of the most important in the country.
- Wildlife Bridges: Animals have crossed roads and clearings using monkey bridges, also known as animal overpasses, which people built. Monkeys and other animals that live in trees can use these bridges to get from one place to another without risking their lives by going on the ground or around dangerous power lines.
- Taught and informed: It is essential for people to understand how dangerous it is for monkeys to be near power lines that aren't properly protected. People from both local groups and utility companies are being taught how to build and maintain infrastructure for wildlife better.
- Research and tracking are always ongoing to determine how well the measures we already have work and how we can develop new ones. Protective measures for monkeys can be better directed and enhanced if we know the population size and the number of monkeys electrocuted.

Ultimately, ecologists are understandably alarmed by the prospect of electrifying monkeys in Costa Rica, as this practice occurs in areas where humans build structures that compel animals to abandon their native environments. Environmental protection and economic growth are two pressing issues that are gaining increasing attention from the general public. This is evident from the actions taken to resolve the issue. By maintaining cooperation between the government, organizations, and local communities, we can save the country's vital biodiversity and reduce the frequency of these dreadful events.

You can help directly making donations to the Jaguar Rescue Center! We are always fighting to solve this big problem.