Woolly Monkey

True Wild Life | Woolly Monkey | The woolly monkey is a medium to large sized primate, that inhabits the tropical forests of north-west South America. The woolly monkey is most well known for it's round-shaped head and dense fur that covers the body of the woolly monkey. Woolly monkeys are found throughout Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and parts of Venezuela where they live an arboreal lifestyle. Woolly monkeys have long and very strong prehensile tails which allows them to balance and grip onto branches without having to give up the use of their hands.

There are four different species of woolly monkey found in the South American jungles today. These are the brown woolly monkey (also known as the common woolly monkey), the grey woolly monkey, the Columbian woolly monkey and the silvery woolly monkey. All four of the different woolly monkey species are found in the same regions of South America. The woolly monkey gets its name from its soft and thick, curled fur which ranges from brown to black to grey, depending on the species of woolly monkey. Woolly monkeys have relatively stocky bodies, with powerful shoulders and hips.

Like many other primate species, woolly monkeys live together in fairly large groups known as troops. The woolly monkey troops contain both male woolly monkeys and female woolly monkeys. The woolly monkey troop is also known to split up into smaller groups when it is time to forage for food. The woolly monkey is an omnivorous animal, meaning that it feeds on both plants and other animals. Fruit is the primary source of food for woolly monkeys, but they will also eat nuts, seeds, leaves, flowers, nectar, insects and even small rodents and reptiles.

Due to their relatively large size, woolly monkeys have few natural predators within their jungle environment. Large birds of prey such as eagles, are the main predators of the young woolly monkeys, and wildcats such as ocelot and jaguars are the main predators of the adult woolly monkeys. The human is also one of the main predators of the woolly monkey as they are hunted for their meat and fur. The alpha male woolly monkey will mate with the females in his troop. After a gestation period of between 7 and 8 months, the baby woolly monkey is born. Woolly monkeys tend to only have one baby at a time although twins have been known to occur. The baby woolly monkey clings to it's mothers underside, before climbing up onto her back when it is around a week old. The baby woolly monkey is independent and no longer needs it's mother when it is around 6 months old.

Due to deforestation and therefore habitat loss, the woolly monkey population numbers are drastically decreasing, with the woolly monkey now considered to be an animal species that is vulnerable to extinction.

White Faced Capuchin

True Wild Life | White Face Capuchin | The white faced capuchin, also known as the white headed capuchin and the white throated capuchin, is a medium sized species of monkey that is native to the jungles of Central America and the northern regions of South America. The white faced capuchin is one of the most well known monkeys, particularly in North America, and the white faced capuchin is thought to be one of the most intelligent monkeys in the world with the white faced capuchin being best known as a companion for organ grinders and are also used to assist people that are paraplegic.

The white faced capuchin plays a vital role in the eco-system where the white faced capuchin inhabits, as the white faced capuchin is one of the most effective dispersers of plant and fruit seeds throughout the jungle. The white faced capuchin does this by eating the fruits and berries that grow in the surrounding jungle and the seeds are then put back into the ground in the feces of the white faced capuchin. The white faced capuchin live in troops which generally contain around 20 individual white faced capuchin members. The white faced capuchin tends to live between 15 and 20 years in the wild, in captivity however, the white faced capuchin has been recorded to live until it is more than 50 years old!

The white faced capuchin is a highly adaptable mammal and is known to live in all different types of forest in Central and South America. Although the white faced capuchin mainly feeds on fruits and berries, the white faced capuchin also eats insects, plants and even small creatures such as frogs and birds. Within a white faced capuchin troop, there tend to be more female white faced capuchin members than males and as with many other species of sociable primates, the white faced capuchin troop generally has an alpha male member whose primary role is to breed with the female members and to protect their troop.

White faced capuchin troops are not thought to be highly territorial as they spend a great deal of their time on the move. On average a white faced capuchin will travel 2 km every day but there always seems to be conflict when faced with a different troop of white faced capuchin monkeys.

Tarsier

True Wild Life | Tarsier | The tarsier is a small primate was once found in Asia, Europe, and North America, and possibly Africa. Today the tarsier is only found on several Southeast Asian islands including the Philippines, Sulawesi, Borneo, and Sumatra. Tarsiers are small animals with enormous eyes with each eyeball of the tarsier measuring approximately 16 mm in diameter which is as large as their entire brain. Tarsiers also have very long hind limbs and the feet of the tarsier have extremely elongated tarsus bones, from which the animals get their name.

The head and body of the tarsier range from 10 to 15 cm in length, but the hind limbs are about twice this long (including the feet). The tarsier also has a slender tail from 20 to 25 cm long. The fingers of the tarsier are also elongated, with the third finger being about the same length as the upper arm (in a similar way to the Aye Aye found in Madagascar). Most of the digits have nails, but the second and third toes of the hind feet bare claws instead, which are used for grooming.

Tarsiers have very soft, velvety fur, which is generally brown or beige in colour. The elongated fingers of the tarsier are a dark brown colour and almost twig like in appearance. The tarsier is a nocturnal animal but can be seen to be active during the day. The tarsier primarily feeds on insects but tarsiers will also eat small animals such as rodents, reptiles and birds. Tarsiers catch their prey by jumping on them and tarsiers are very adept at leaping from tree to tree. Tarsiers have even been known to catch birds that are in motion!

The gestation period of the female tarsier takes roughly six months, and the female tarsier will then give birth to a single tarsier baby. The baby tarsiers are born with fur and with their eyes open. The young tarsiers are able to climb within a day of birth and reach sexual maturity when they are about 2 years old. The social habits of the tarsier appear to be dependent on where they live. Tarsiers in some place stick together in groups while tarsiers in other place prefer to both rest and hunt alone. Tarsiers in the wild live until they are about 12 years old, but those tarsiers that are in captivity lead much shorter lives as they die young because they are unhappy. Remarkably, the tarsier is able to turn its head nearly 360 degrees meaning that, coupled with the large eyes of the tarsier, the tarsier able to spot any oncoming predators with ease.

Sumatran Orang-utan

True Wild Life | Sumatran Orang-utan | The Sumatran orang-utan is a species of orang-utan native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Sumatran orang-utan is one of only two species of great ape that are found in Asia, the other being the slightly larger and closely related, Bornean orang-utan. The Sumatran orang-utan is found inhabiting tropical and sub-tropical rainforest in the lowlands of Sumatra and the habitat of the Sumatran orang-utan extends into the moist swamps. Due to extensive deforestation in the Sumatran orang-utan's natural habitat, the Sumatran orang-utan is now much rarer than the Bornean orang-utan.

The Sumatran orang-utan is known to be a lot more sociable than it's large Bornean cousin, with groups of Sumatran orang-utans often gathering together to feed and play. The Sumatran orang-utan is however more confined to the trees as it is at risk from large ground dwelling predators such as the Sumatran tiger. The Sumatran orang-utan is one of the great apes, a group that includes orang-utans, gorillas, humans and chimpanzees. As with the other great apes, the Sumatran orang-utan has a number of features which makes living in the jungle a bit easier, including having opposable thumbs which come in handy when the Sumatran orang-utan is peeling fruit.

The Sumatran orang-utan is an omnivorous animal, but the majority of it's diet is made up of eating fruit which the Sumatran orang-utan is known to travel vast distances through the forests to find. The Sumatran orang-utan also eats leaves, nuts and berries, along with insects and occasionally small animals such as lizards and rodents. Due to it's large size, the Sumatran orang-utan has few real predators in it's native Sumatran forests, with the Sumatran tiger being it's only real predator. The biggest threat to the Sumatran orang-utan is habitat loss caused by deforestation which has completely wiped out the Sumatran orang-utan populations in certain areas.

Female Sumatran orang-utans are able to mate when they are about 15 years old and, give birth to a single Sumatran orang-utan baby. The Sumatran orang-utan baby is dependent on it's mother and generally remains with her until it reaches the age of 3 and becomes more independent. Today, the Sumatran orang-utan is one of the world's most endangered species with as few as 7,000 Sumatran orang-utan individuals thought to be left in the wild. The main reason for the demise in the Sumatran orang-utan populations is deforestation across the island for logging and to make way for palm oil plantations.

Squirrel Monkey

True Wild Life | Squirrel Monkey | The squirrel monkey inhabits the tropical rain forests of Central and South America, where the squirrel monkey is found in the jungles of Costa Rica and Panama. The squirrel monkey has short fur, coloured olive on the squirrel monkeys shoulders and yellowish orange on the squirrel monkeys back. The squirrel monkeys throat and ears are white and the squirrel monkeys mouths are black. The upper part of the squirrel monkeys head is quite hairy when compared to the rest of the squirrel monkeys body.

Squirrel monkeys grow from 25 to 35 cm, plus the squirrel monkey has a 35 to 42 cm tail. The squirrel monkey is thought to be one of the most intelligent species of primate and the squirrel monkey has the largest brain to body mass ratio of all the monkey species in the world. The squirrel monkeys live together in all male or all female groups and these groups can include up to 500 squirrel monkeys. These large squirrel monkey groups can, however, occasionally break into smaller troops.

The squirrel monkeys have a number of vocal calls which the squirrel monkeys use to communicate with other squirrel monkeys. These squirrel monkey sounds include warning sounds to protect themselves from large falcons, which are a natural threat to the squirrel monkey. The squirrel monkeys small body size also makes the squirrel monkey easy prey for predators such as snakes.

The squirrel monkey is an omnivore meaning that the squirrel monkey primarily eats fruits and insects. Occasionally the squirrel monkey will also eat nuts, buds, eggs and small vertebrates that the squirrel monkey finds in the surrounding tree branches.

Spider Monkey

True Wild Life | Spider Monkey | The spider monkey is found in the tropical jungles of South America, from Southern Mexico to Brazil. The spider monkey generally dos not enter the further southern regions of South America as the terrain becomes mountainous and not to the spider monkey's taste. There are four different types of spider monkey, all of which are fairly large in size and get to around 50cm tall, plus the spider monkey's tail which can often grow longer than the spider monkey's body.

The spider monkey is thought to get it's name from the way the spider monkeys can be seen hanging in the trees. The spider monkey can often be seen with all four hands on separate branches, so the spider monkey looks like a spider's web. The spider monkey can also hang from branches by it's strong tail, which gives the spider monkey spider-like attributes. The spider monkey mainly eats fruits and berries and spider monkeys are a thought to play a vital part in spreading the seeds of many plants throughout the South American rainforests. The spider monkey also eats insects and small reptiles for protein and also honey which the spider monkey finds it.

Due to the extensive hunting of the spider monkey from both humans and bigger jungle animals such as the jaguar and the crocodile, all four species of spider monkey are now considered to be endangered or critically endangered. The spider monkey is often kept as an exotic pet worldwide and is one of the most popular species of pet monkey due to the spider monkey's looks and the spider monkey's character. Please don't keep spider monkeys as pets. Spider monkeys belong in the jungles were they come from and are on the verge of extinction, this process should not be helped.

Spider monkeys form groups of between 10 and 30 individuals which splits up during the day so that there is less competition for food. Unlike many other primates, it is the female spider monkeys that leave their original group to join new groups, rather than the male spider monkeys. Male spider monkeys are known to stay together throughout their lives. Female spider monkeys breed every three to four years and when she is ready to, the female spider monkey chooses a male spider monkey from her group in which to mate with. After a gestation period of around 7 months, the female spider monkey will give birth to one baby spider monkey.

Baby spider monkeys completely rely on their mother until they are between 6 to 10 months old and are big enough and strong enough to make it on their own. Until then, the mother spider monkey carries her young on her tummy and then on her back in on order to keep them safe. Female spider monkeys are known to help their young when jumping in the trees and groom them too.

Red-handed Tamarin

True Wild Life | Red-handed Tamarin | The red-handed tamarin (also known as the Golden-handed Tamarin and the Midas Tamarin) is a New World monkey named for the reddish hair on it's hands and feet. The red-handed tamarin is native to the moist woodland areas along the Amazon river in South America. The red-handed tamarin is found inhabiting the forest alongside the Amazon throughout Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Although once quite large, the natural territory of the red-handed tamarin has rapidly decreased today due to deforestation.

The red-handed tamarin is an exceptional climber and spends most of it's time among the vines and branches of the trees. Red-handed tamarins are quick and agile and are superb jumpers known to jump distances of over 60 feet (18 m) from a tree to the ground when needed. The red-handed tamarin is a diurnal primate which means that the red-handed tamarin is most active during the day and rests in the safety of the tree tops during the night. Red-handed tamarins are very sociable animals and inhabit their territory with their rest of the red-handed tamarin troop which generally have between 4 and 16 members. Red-handed tamarin troops are led by the eldest female and have predominantly male members.

The red-handed tamarin is an omnivorous animal meaning that the red-handed tamarin hunts both plants and other animals in order to survive. Fruits, insects and green plants make up the majority of the red-handed tamarin's diet along with small rodents and reptiles, eggs and tree sap. Due to the relatively small size of the red-handed tamarin, it has a number of predators within it's natural environment. Wild cats, dogs, snakes and birds of prey are primary predators of the red-handed tamarin, along with humans who are destroying their natural habitat.

The red-handed tamarin usually breeds between the months of April and July, when the female red-handed tamarin will give birth to twins (or a single infant) after a four to five month gestation period. The male red-handed tamarin's carry and groom infants more than the females do, but females clean the infant more than the males do. Older siblings are also known to contribute to infant care, although infants prefer to be carried by their parents than by their siblings. Infant red-handed tamarins become mobile at 2 to 5 weeks, and begin eating solid food at 4 to 7 weeks. They are independent at 10 to 18 weeks and are fully weaned at 15 to 25 weeks. Sexual maturity is attained at about 2 years of age.

Today, the red-handed tamarin is not considered to be an animal that is in danger of extinction although the population of wild red-handed tamarins in the rainforests of South America has been declining in recent years primarily due to habitat loss caused by deforestation.

Pied Tamarin

True Wild Life | Pied Tamarin | The pied tamarin is a small species of monkey found in the rainforest of Brazil. The pied tamarin is an endangered species and is one of the larger species of tamarin found on the South American continent. The pied tamarin is found in only one restricted area in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, where the pied tamarins are being protected from being hunted and poached in the forest or from being subjected to habitat loss in the form deforestation. The pied tamarin is a very distinctive species of tamarin as it has a white chest and back, brown, tan or red hind legs and tail and a black hairless face. The pied tamarin is a highly territorial animal and is known to make a variety of calls to warn off unwanted visitors.

The pied tamarin is a diurnal primate which means that the pied tamarin is most active during the day and rests in the safety of the tree tops during the night. pied tamarins are very sociable animals and inhabit their territory with their rest of the pied tamarin troop which generally have between 3 and 15 members. Pied tamarin troops are led by the eldest female and have predominantly male members. The pied tamarin is an omnivorous animal meaning that the pied tamarin hunts both plants and other animals in order to survive. Fruits, insects and green plants make up the majority of the pied tamarin's diet along with small rodents and reptiles, eggs and tree sap.

Due to the relatively small size of the pied tamarin, it has a number of predators within it's natural environment. Wild cats, dogs, snakes and birds of prey are primary predators of the pied tamarin, along with humans who are destroying their natural habitat. The pied tamarin usually breeds between the months of April and July, when the female pied tamarin will give birth to twins (or a single infant) after a four to five month gestation period. The male pied tamarin's carry and groom infants more than the females do, but females clean the infant more than the males do. Older siblings are also known to contribute to infant care, although infants prefer to be carried by their parents than by their siblings. Infant pied tamarins become mobile at 2 to 5 weeks, and begin eating solid food at 4 to 7 weeks. They are independent at 10 to 18 weeks and are fully weaned at 15 to 25 weeks. Sexual maturity is attained at about 2 years of age.

Today, the pied tamarin population in the wild of South America has been declining in recent years primarily due to habitat loss caused by deforestation. The range of the pied tamarin is now restricted to just one part of the Brazilian rainforest where the pied tamarin inhabits a number of National parks and reserves.

Patas Monkey

True Wild Life | Patas Monkey | The patas monkey is a ground-dwelling monkey that inhabits areas across western Africa and parts of eastern Africa. The patas monkey is the only monkey species of it's kind and is thought to be the fastest primate in the world as the patas monkey can run at speeds of more than 30mph. The patas monkey is fairly large in size and can grow to heights of up to 80 cm tall. The patas monkey also has an extremely long tail which is often around the same length as the patas monkey's body.

Patas monkeys tend to be found inhabiting more open areas rather than dense woodland as the patas monkey's main defence is to simply run away which it can do more effectively if there aren't so many trees in the way. Patas monkeys are most commonly found on the outskirts of woodland and open savannas and grassland. Patas monkeys live together in troops which contain around 10 patas monkey individuals. The patas monkey troop is contains only one male patas monkey and consists of female patas monkeys and their young. A young male patas monkey will leave the group when he reaches sexual maturity before the age of 5. Female patas monkeys tend to remain in the same group as their mother although this is not always the case.

Unlike most other primate troops, the patas monkey troop is actually led by the female patas monkeys who can often be seen getting into disputes with other patas monkey troops over territory, The male patas monkey is usually not territorial and tends to take a back-seat when these disputes between rivalling female patas monkeys are going on. The job of the male patas monkey in the patas monkey troop is primarily to guard the female patas monkeys. If their is oncoming danger such as a predator, the male patas monkey tries to intimidate the unwanted approacher by producing very loud vocal calls while at the same time moving away from the rest of the troop in order to lure the danger away. The female patas monkeys will then run away, closely followed by the male patas monkey.

The patas monkey is an omnivorous animal, spending it's time foraging for a mixture of both plants and small animals. Patas monkeys feed on insects, fruits, leaves, grasses, seeds, roots, birds eggs and even small reptiles such as lizards. Due to the relatively large size of the patas monkey and the fact that the patas monkey is able to out-run many predators, the patas monkey is not an easy meal for a carnivore to catch. The main predators of the patas monkey are wildcats such as leopards and cheetahs along with hyenas and birds of prey that hunt the younger, smaller and more vulnerable patas monkey individuals.

Female patas monkeys give birth to a single patas monkey baby that is born after a gestation period of around 5 months, usually in the cooler months between November and February. When a patas monkey baby is first born, it is entirely black in colour and does not begin to develop it's thicker reddish fur until it is at least a couple of months old. Due to the fact that patas monkeys tend to live in dryer grassland habitats rather than the forests, patas monkeys have not been greatly affected by factors such as habitat loss and patas monkeys therefore remain to be one of the world's thriving primate species.

Neanderthal

True Wild Life | Neanderthal | The Neanderthal is an old world, modern primate that is now extinct. It is thought that the Neanderthal roamed the lands of Asia and Europe for around 100,000 years. The Neanderthal traits are no longer found in humans, the last known being 24,000 years ago in Portugal. However, extensive research has shown the similarities between Neanderthal and human.

The Neanderthal cranial capacity was much bigger than modern humans, judging by the size skulls found from the Neanderthal era. This indicates that the Neanderthal had a possible larger brain size. The Neanderthal is known to be smaller than modern humans and only got to around 40 years old at most.

Mountain Gorilla

True Wild Life | Mountain Gorilla | There are two species of the mountain gorilla, both of which are found in the highlands in eastern Africa. One of these is found in the volcanic mountains of Virunga in Central Africa, with the mountain gorilla having a habitat range across 4 national parks throughout the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The other mountain gorilla species is found in Ugandas Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The mountain gorilla is one of the largest primates in the world with the male mountain gorilla, known as a silverback, often growing to twice the size of a female mountain gorilla.

The mountain gorilla has longer fur covering the mountain gorillas body when compared to other gorilla species, allowing the mountain gorilla to be able to withstand both hot and cold temperatures. The mountain gorilla has also taken to living mainly on the ground but is capable of hauling its enormous weight to around 6m high above the ground, when the mountain gorilla is looking to feed on fruits and berries that are inaccessible from the ground.

The mountain gorilla is diurnal and spends most of its waking life eating. The mountain gorilla is a highly sociable mammal and lives in groups of between 5 and 30 individuals, which includes a mix of both male and female mountain gorillas. The alpha male mountain gorilla tends to rule for around 5 years, and as these mountain gorilla groups are non-territorial, the alpha male mountain gorilla will defend his group rather than a particular territory. Around 60% of mountain gorillas, both male and female, with leave the mountain gorilla group that they are born into and will either join another group of mountain gorillas but will more likely, start their own group.

The mountain gorilla is said to be one of the closest living relatives to the human as the mountain gorillas hands are almost identical to the hands of a human being. The mountain gorilla is a critically endangered species as the mountain gorilla population has diminished rapidly through loss of habitat and illegal poaching. Scientists however has recently revealed that the mountain gorilla population in a nature reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased despite the war that is ongoing in that area of Africa.

Monkey

True Wild Life | Monkey | Monkeys are found naturally in the jungles and forests of the Southern Hemisphere. There are two ways to classify a monkey, the old world monkey (Asia and Africa) and the new world monkey (South America). There are around 260 known species of monkey worldwide ranging from chimpanzees to the tiny pygmy marmoset. The monkey can be anywhere from just a few centimetres tall, with some species of monkey growing to more than a metre tall.

A monkey will mainly eat foliage, nuts, fruit, berries, insects, with the bigger species of monkey hunting small birds and mammals. Funnily enough monkeys never eat a banana as it is and instead they peel it first and throw away the peel. Although both the New World monkeys and Old World monkeys have forward facing eyes, the faces of Old World monkeys and New World monkeys look very different, though again, each group shares some features such as the types of noses, cheeks and rumps.

It has been known for some organisations to train certain species of monkeys as monkey helpers to assist quadriplegics and other people with severe spinal cord injuries or mobility impairments. After being brought up in a human home as infants, the monkeys undergo extensive training before being placed with a quadriplegic. Around the house, the monkeys help out by doing tasks including microwaving food and opening drink bottles!

When a monkey yawns it apparently means that either the monkey is tired or the monkey is angry about something. Howler monkeys are the loudest species of monkey with the howler monkeys howl being heard as far as 10 miles away. Monkeys use different noises, facial expressions and body movements to communicate with one another, with the monkey grinning being a sign of aggression. However, monkeys express affection and make peace with others by grooming each other.