These are my favorite animal on the planet. They are a relative of the squirrel monkey in Peru, only this sub-species is a bit smaller and (in my opinion) far cuter. This species is critically endangered and only small pockets remain in two national parks in Costa Rica. The fact that tourists feed these monkeys with sunscreen on their hands doesn't help a monkey that weighs only one kilogram and is the size of a squirrel. Sunscreen isn't even good for us to eat and we weigh a lot more than that. Electrocution from loose hydro wires is also a problem -- and is worsened by humans who encourage the monkeys over to their hotels and away from the national park. You can see some of these monkeys playing on hotel roofs and along the balconies in the hotel corridor near Manuel Antonio National Park. I took a documentary approach to photographing them and I plan to sell some of the images and donate the funds to conservation programs to protect them.

You can find more images at: http://www.pbase.com/ccraft/costa_rican_wildlife