Why they're up there at all
Howler and white-faced capuchin monkeys are canopy animals — they travel by tree branch, not by ground. As Manuel Antonio and Quepos have developed, roads and cleared lots have broken up the forest canopy into disconnected patches. Where a gap in the trees used to be bridged by branches, it's now bridged by the overhead power and utility lines instead — because for the monkeys, a wire strung between two poles looks exactly like a branch strung between two trees.
The problem is that most of Costa Rica's utility lines are bare, uninsulated wire, run cheaply rather than safely. A monkey crossing on an insulated line is fine. A monkey crossing on the wrong line, or touching two wires at once, is electrocuted — and this happens often enough that electrocution is one of the leading causes of injury and death for monkeys in developed coastal towns nationwide.
The local fix: monkey bridges
Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR), a wildlife organization based in Manuel Antonio/Quepos, runs a program installing "monkey bridges" — blue rope aerial bridges strung well above the road and power lines at the highest-risk crossing points. Monkeys use these instead of the wires, restoring a safe version of the tree-branch route the road destroyed. KSTR describes these bridges as saving thousands of crossings a year at the crossings where they've been installed.
The organization also runs a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center nearby, treating animals injured on lines where a bridge hasn't gone up yet — electrocution remains the most common reason injured monkeys come through their doors.
What to look for
Blue rope bridges strung above the road at power-line crossings — an easy, genuine thing to point out to kids as more than just "there's a monkey."
Who's behind it
Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR), based in Quepos/Manuel Antonio — wildlife rescue, rehab, and prevention infrastructure.
Species most affected
Howler monkeys and white-faced capuchins are the most commonly injured; both are common sights around Manuel Antonio.
The bigger picture
A 2026 Costa Rican constitutional court ruling (centered on Nosara) found the state liable for failing to prevent these electrocutions — a sign this is being taken seriously at a national level, not just a local quirk.
Why this is worth knowing before you visit
It reframes something visitors often treat as a cute photo-op into what it actually is: a visible symptom of how fast this stretch of coast has developed, and a real local conservation effort working in plain sight above the street. If you're staying in Manuel Antonio, you're likely to see both the monkeys crossing on wires and, at some intersections, the blue bridges built to get them off those wires — worth pointing out on a walk into town.