Okay so maybe this week’s Monkey Monday Wild Fact is a tad late but nonetheless, here it is! That’s right, we are going to explore the life of a New World Monkey called the Uakari. I know, I thought it was a pretty funny name as well. If you want to actually pronounce the name properly then you need to say it like “wakari”, which is still pretty fun to say. Go ahead and say it one more time before continuing on……”Wakari”! Okay, moving on. These particular primates can be found hanging out in the trees of the South American Rain-forests. In all honesty, what doesn’t hang out in the Rain-forest? That has to be one of the coolest places to live.
When you look at the picture, what is the first thing that you notice? I am going to go out on a limb here and say you noticed the incredibly red face and bald head. Apparently the red face may help with mate selection since animals stricken with malaria will generally have a pale face. So if you ever get stuck with a case of malaria, just paint your face red and the opposite sex will be none the wiser.
What you may not have noticed from the picture is the Uakari differs from most other South American monkey’s since they actually have a short tail. How do they hang around in the trees if they don’t have a long tail? Great question! Apparently they don’t actually need the long prehensile tail to swing from branch to branch. They get by just fine with their powerful arms and legs, which makes me ask the question of why the other monkey’s need such a long tail? It also makes me think that perhaps humans still have a chance to live a life in the trees.
This New World Monkey is very social and can often be found living in a troop of more than a hundred individuals. This big, happy family will typically split out into smaller groups of 1 to 10 in order to forage throughout the day. I wonder how they decide who goes into what groups? I feel bad for that poor monkey who gets picked last. Once darkness falls, this troop of Uakari’s will head to the canopy and sleep in the comfort of the trees.
So there you go, a Monkey Monday Wild Fact for you on this beautiful Thursday. I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you tomorrow for the last fact of the week.
