[vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_images_carousel images=”1623,1622″ img_size=”1200×500″ onclick=”link_no”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”sidebarheading”][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Spider Monkey” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center”][vc_column_text]Spider monkeys are large New World monkeys that live in tropical rainforests from central Mexico in the north to Bolivia in the south. There are seven species of these agile primates, which get their name from the way their long limbs and tails resemble spider legs as they dangle from branches and swing through the treetops. Four long fingers on each hand help them grasp branches, too. (They also have thumbs but those are extremely short.) Their tree-to-tree locomotion, called brachiation, is how these swingers get around.<\/p>\n
The spider monkey\u2019s tail is prehensile, which means \u201ccapable of grasping.\u201d It is generally longer than the animal\u2019s body and acts as a fifth limb\u2014an adaptation to life in the tree canopy. It can support a spider monkey\u2019s full body weight and allows them to hang onto branches, freeing their hands so they can climb, forage, and eat.<\/p>\n
Each of the seven spider monkey species differs in geographic range and appearance, although they do share some physical traits and behaviors. White-bellied spider monkeys, which range from Colombia to Peru, for example, have a coat of hair that ranges from black to auburn with a light patch on their foreheads and a chin-to-belly swath of white-to-beige hair. Red-faced spider monkeys are covered in longish black hair except for their bare faces, hands, and feet.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column icons_position=”left”][vc_empty_space hide_on_desktop=”” hide_on_notebook=”” hide_on_tablet=”” hide_on_mobile=”” css=”.vc_custom_1529329123626{margin-bottom: 0.5rem !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=”uppp”][vc_column width=”1\/4″ icons_position=”left” el_class=”sidebarheading”][vc_custom_heading text=”FUN FACTS” font_container=”tag:h6|text_align:left”][vc_column_text el_class=”iconnn”]The set of lines on the end of a spider monkey’s prehensile tail is unique to each monkey, like human fingerprints.<\/p>\n
The spider monkey\u2019s genus name, Ateles, means \u201cimperfect,\u201d and refers to the animal\u2019s lack of opposable thumbs.<\/p>\n
Spider monkeys aren\u2019t spiders\u2014but they do eat them.[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Conservation Status” font_container=”tag:h6|text_align:left”][vc_custom_heading text=”Endangered” font_container=”tag:h6|text_align:center|color:%231e73be”][vc_column_text el_id=”katammm”]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_wp_custommenu nav_menu=”57″ el_class=”menuucl”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ icons_position=”left” el_class=”pannells” el_id=”smee”][vc_tta_tabs][vc_tta_section title=”Fact Sheet” tab_id=”1676379291585-c48c19fd-1bd1″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
This animal\u2019s diet consists mostly of fruits, plus leaves, nuts, seeds, and sometimes arachnids and insects. Spider monkeys are important seed dispersers for their rainforest homes. When animals eat fruit and nuts from trees and then go on their merry way, they eventually defecate the seeds and spread the tree species throughout the area. Between 50 and 90 percent of seed dispersal in tropical forests is done by animals.<\/p>\n
Spider monkeys are social, living in groups of up to 40 members. Within that group, smaller subgroups will often splinter off to forage. A 2014 study of Mexican spider monkeys in Belize found that males and females spent their time differently, with females doing more eating and resting and males eating more ripe fruits and traveling. Males are likely on the move because they\u2019re patrolling their borders and raiding other troops before returning to check on the females.<\/p>\n
Spider monkey males and females are both known to have multiple sexual partners, but their reproductive behaviors are difficult to document, even in captivity, and weren’t even observed until the 1970s.<\/p>\n
But there have been some discoveries: A 2010 study on the black-faced spider monkey found that males must scramble to find and mate with the few receptive females in a single mating period. It also noted that most trysts took place in secret. Like other primates, spider monkeys form consortships in which males and females pair up and leave the group for periods as short as a few days. Spider monkeys have a long gestation period, from seven to 7.5 months. They don\u2019t have a single breeding season, but an individual spider monkey will wait about two to four years before giving birth again. Infants are born with full body hair except for the bare skin around the eyes of their \u201cbaby face.\u201d Mostly helpless, newborns cling to their mother, who provides parental care, and don\u2019t wean for as long as two years.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Conservation” tab_id=”uppp”][vc_column_text]According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, all spider monkey populations are decreasing. The most stable wild population\u2014that of the Guiana spider monkey of Guyana, French Guyana, Surinam, and Brazil\u2014is still vulnerable to extinction. Human activities including farming, ranching, and road construction are destroying the monkey\u2019s habitat\u2014even though much of its home range is protected.<\/p>\n
The least stable population is the brown spider monkey, found in Colombia and Venezuela. These animals are critically endangered, a distinction that places them just two steps away from extinction. They are a favorite target of hunters, who shoot them for sport and to make medicine to treat a variety of maladies from rheumatism to snake bites.<\/p>\n
Their forest homes are also being cleared for cattle ranching, agriculture, logging, and human settlements. Pockets of forest that are left may no longer be sustainable and only 20 percent of the species\u2019 historical distribution remains. Some protections have been put in place for this species, including local awareness programs in Venezuela and ongoing surveys to find the species and forests that could potentially be protected in Colombia.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”far fa-question-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Meet the Animals” tab_id=”smee”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Tigers have reddish-orange coats with prominent black stripes, white bellies and
\nwhite spots on their ears. Like a human fingerprint, no two tigers have the exact
\nsame markings. Because of this, researchers can use stripe patterns to identify
\ndifferent individuals when studying tigers in the wild. Tigers are powerful hunters
\nwith sharp teeth, strong jaws and agile bodies. They are the largest terrestrial
\nmammal whose diet consists entirely of meat. The tiger’s closest relative is the lion.
\nIn fact, without fur, it is difficult to distinguish a tiger from a lion.<\/p>\n
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world, and the Amur tiger is the largest
\nsubspecies with males weighing up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms) and measuring 10
\nfeet (3 meters). Sumatran tigers are the smallest subspecies, maxing out at 310
\npounds (140 kilograms) and 8 feet (2.4 meters). Female tigers of all subspecies tend
\nto be smaller than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n
Historically, tigers existed throughout much of Eastern and Southern Asia, as well as
\nin parts of Central and Western Asia and the Middle East, surrounding the Caspian
\nSea. Their range has diminished significantly as human populations have expanded.
\nItis believed they currently occupy just 7 percent of their historic range.<\/p>\n
Presently, tigers are found in a variety of habitats across South and Southeast Asia,
\nChina and Eastern Russia. They thrive in temperate, tropical or evergreen forests,
\nmangrove swamps and grasslands. Amur tigers are primarily found in Far-East
\nRussia, although there are small populations across the border into China and
\npotentially North Korea. Sumatran tigers are found only on the Indonesian island of
\nSumatra. A tiger’s range within these regions is determined by the availability of
\nprey.<\/p>\n
Despite their solitary nature, communication is a very important part of tigers\u2019
\nbehavioral ecology. They communicate through vocalizations, such as roaring,
\ngrunting and chuffing, and through signals, such as scent marking and scratches on
\ntrees. Tigers are fiercely territorial animals, so these signals are particularly
\nimportant to communicating where one tiger’s home range ends and another’s
\nbegins.<\/p>\n
Tigers are solitary ambush predators that rely on stealth and strength to take down
\nprey. These apex predators primarily hunt large ungulates, such as wild boar and
\ndeer, but are also known to consume monkeys, buffalo, sloth bears, leopards and
\neven crocodiles. When tigers are found in close proximity to humans, they may also
\nfeed on domestic animals, such as cattle or goats. Tigers are adept swimmers and
\nhave even been recorded hunting in the wild.<\/p>\n
These powerful cats hunt primarily at night, using sight and sound to identify prey.
\nTheir striped coats help them blend into their surroundings, where they lie in wait for
\nprey to pass by. At the opportune moment, tigers pounce on their prey, take it to the
\nground and finish the kill by breaking or biting the neck. Tigers hunt about once a
\nweek and consume as much as 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of food in one night.<\/p>\n
At the Zoo, tigers eat ground beef, and their diet is supplemented with enrichment
\nitems each week. They receive knucklebones or cow femurs twice a week and rabbits
\nonce a week to exercise their jaws and keep their teeth healthy.<\/p>\n
Tigers are solitary creatures, except when mating or raising young. Cubs stay with
\ntheir mothers until they learn to hunt successfully, usually at about 18 to 24 months
\nold. They reach full independence after two to three years, at which point they
\ndisperse to find their own territory. Female tigers often remain near their mother’s\u2019
\nterritory, while males disperse farther from home.<\/p>\n
Female tigers reach sexual maturity between age 3 and 4. Males are sexually mature
\nat about 4 or 5 years old. Mating can occur at any time of year but most often takes
\nplace during cooler months between November and April. Tigers are induced
\novulators, which means females will not release eggs until mating occurs. Gestation
\nlasts approximately 100 days, and females give birth to between one and seven
\noffspring at a time, averaging between two and four cubs. Once cubs become
\nindependent, at about age 2, females are ready to give birth again. However, if a
\nfemale’s offspring do not survive, due to causes such as infanticide or starvation, she
\nis able to conceive another litter right away.<\/p>\n
The life span of tigers in the wild is usually between 10 and 15 years. In human care,
\nor on rare occasions in the wild, a tiger can live up to 20 years. However,
\napproximately half of all wild tiger cubs do not survive past the first two years of life.
\nOnly 40 percent of those that reach independence actually live to establish a territory
\nand produce young. The risk of mortality remains high for adult tigers due to their
\nterritorial nature, which often results in direct competition with conspecifics, or
\nmembers of the same species.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″ icons_position=”left” el_class=”sidebarheading”][vc_custom_heading text=”WHERE TO FIND THE SPIDER MONKEY” font_container=”tag:h6|text_align:left”][vc_single_image image=”1624″ img_size=”full” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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