The Wild Capuchin Foundation was established in 2012 to support the scientific, educational and conservation work of the Lomas Barbudal Monkey project.

The Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project was founded in 1990 by Susan Perry, with the help of Joseph Manson and Julie Gros-Louis, for the purpose of studying social intelligence in the white-faced capuchin, Cebus capucinus. Since that time, the Lomas Barbudal capuchins have become one of the most intensively studied wild monkey populations in the world, with a focus on questions regarding social dynamics, communication, social traditions, development, and life history strategies. This is one of very few long- term studies of primates for which there are detailed observations over the course of the lifetime for large numbers of individuals for which there are also data on genetic relatedness and lifetime reproductive success. Such data are critical for testing hypotheses about the evolution of social strategies.