Wooly Monkey

Wooly Monkey

The Wooly Monkey gets its name from its thick, coarse fur. The Wooly Monkey is a medium-sized monkey, having a prehensile tail, which it uses as a fifth limb to grip branches.

There are four major species of Wooly Monkey. Three of the species are found throughout most of the Amazon basin. Only the Colombian Wooly Monkey stays north in Colombia and Venezuela.

The three species found in the Amazon basin are the Brown Wooly Monkey , the Gray Wooly Monkey and the Silvery Wooly Monkey.

All of the species of Wooly Monkey live in small troops of 4 to 70 individuals. Depending on the time of year and availability of food, the Wooly Monkeys often mix with related monkeys such as capuchins, howlers, or spider monkeys.

They eat mostly fruit, supplemented with leaves, seeds, and insects. The Wooly Monkey is a slow moving forager who stays to the trees most of the time.
They have been observed walking upright on the ground.

Although their habitat is threatened in some areas, they are not currently on the endanger species list.

More in the next edition.