Chimpanzees live in large multi-male and multi-female social groups.
There is usually one dominant male, and thereafter a male hierarchy.
The females also have a hierarchy.
Chimpanzees are well known for their ability to make and utilise tools.
Chimpanzees from different parts of Africa have different cultural traditions and will learn different skills from chimps in other areas e.g. ‘fishing’ for termites or using a rock as a hammer on a rock anvil.
At night they make a ‘nest’ of interwoven or layered leafy branches, which forms a platform for the night.
Chimpanzees come from restricted areas of Africa and extend east as far as Tanzania.
They live in groups of up to 50 individuals and have fission fusion communities in which the super-group will split into smaller sub-groups.
A core group of related males patrol the community territory boundaries.
The groups have a rigid social hierarchy and live in primary and secondary dry woodland savannah, grassland and tropical rain forest.
Chimpanzees eat fruit, leaves, seeds and animal prey.
They live for approximately 50 years and generally give birth to a single infant per pregnancy.
Baby chimpanzees are weaned at approximately 4 years.
There are probably only 30,000 chimpanzees left in the wild today. Their numbers have been halved in the last ten years.
All wild chimpanzee populations are in decline as a result of forest destruction, hunting for bush meat, and poaching for the illegal pet trade or to be used as tourist entertainment.
Orang-utans
Orang-utans come from Borneo and Sumatra.
Orang-utans from Borneo and Sumatra are different sub-species.
They live in primary rain forest from lowland swamp to upland forest habitats.
Orang-utans are generally solitary animals but they do have loose associations around abundant food sources.
Females generally give birth to a single infant which gestates in approximately 8 1/2 – 9 months.
The baby is weaned at approximately 4-5 years.
Generally the males are twice the weight of the females, with males weighing 77kg and females 37kg.
Orang-utans are critically endangered and it is estimated that there are only 20,000 left in the wild.
Wild orang-utans are threatened by de-forestation, agriculture and poaching.
Woolly Monkeys
Woolly Monkeys come from central and western areas of South America.
They occupy humid primary flooded and non-flooded forest and live in groups numbering 5-43 individuals.
They live in multi-male groups with one dominant male in charge of the group.
Females generally give birth to a single infant which gestates in 220 days. The baby is weaned at 20 months.
They have a prehensile tail, which is used as a third arm so they can forage for food while hanging from their legs and tail.
They are very delicate monkeys to keep as they can be highly strung and they often suffer from diabetic tendencies if their diet is not just right.
Siamang Gibbons
Siamang Gibbons come from Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula in primary and secondary lowland and montane forest.
They are classified as ‘lesser apes’ not monkeys!
Siamangs pair bond for life and sing duets which solidify their relationship and announce their territory to neighbouring pairs of gibbons.
They occupy the top canopy of primary rainforests and feed on leaves, fruit, flowers and animal prey.
Siamangs move through the trees by swinging from arm to arm underneath the branches. This type of movement is known as ‘brachiating’.
Their gestation period is 200-240 days and their life span is 35 years.
The pair will start breeding at approximately 6 years old and the male will somtimes carry the baby but return it to the female for feeding and sleeping.
Females generally give birth to a single infant which is weaned at 3-5 years.
Golden-Cheeked Gibbons
Golden-cheeked gibbons come from Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
They live in monogamous pairs and occupy tropical forests.
Golden-cheeked gibbons eat fruit, leaves, flowers, and animal prey.
Females give birth to a single infant that is born a brindled colour.
At approximately 7-8 months old, babies turn jet black and then at adolescence (5-6 years) females turn blonde with a black cap on their head.
Lar Gibbons
Lar gibbons (Hylobates lar) come from China, Thailand, Laos, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra.
They live in monogamous pairs
In the wild they occupy primary and secondary, tropical dry deciduous and moist evergreen rain forest, and lowland to montane forest up to 2400 metres.
Lar gibbons eat fruit, leaves, insects, flowers, stems, shoots, and buds.
Mueller’s Gibbons
Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) come only from the island of Borneo.
They live in monogamous pairs and occupy primary and secondary dipterocarp forest up to 1500 m.
Mueller’s gibbons eat fruit, leaves, flowers, and animal prey.
These gibbons have a very distinctive punctuated call.
Agile Gibbons
Agile gibbons (Hylobates agilis) come from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.
They live in monogamous pairs and occupy tropical lowland rain forest and swamp forest.
Agile gibbons eat fruit, leaves, flowers, and animal prey.
Females give birth to a single infant that is weaned at approximately two to three years.
Squirrel Monkeys
Squirrel Monkeys come from Brazil, Guyana, French Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela and Colombia.
They live in multi-male groups, numbering 20-40 individuals.
Squirrel Monkeys live in primary and secondary moist forest, riverine forest and in mangrove swamps to 2000m.
These monkeys eat primarily animal prey including frogs, snails, crabs and insects. They also eat fruit and seeds.
They live for approximately 21 years.
Females generally give birth to a single infant that gestates for 170 days. Babies are weaned at 12 months.
Spider Monkeys
Black-handed spider monkeys come from Central America (Mexico through to Panama).
They occupy evergreen rain forest, semi-deciduous and mangrove forests.
They live in multi-male/multi-female groups numbering anywhere from 5-35 individuals and have fission-fusion communities that come together when food is abundant and split apart when food is limited.
They eat mostly fruit but also seeds, flowers, leaves, buds and animal prey.
Capuchins
Capuchin monkeys come from northern and central South America.
They live in multi-male groups numbering 8-14 individuals.
They live in primary and secondary rain forest to semi-deciduous lowland and montane habitats.
They eat primarily fruit, seeds and some animal prey.
They live for approximately 40 years.
Capuchins scent mark by washing their hands and feet in their own urine.
They have a prehensile tail for gripping and balancing in the trees.
Females generally give birth to a single infant which is weaned at 24 months.
Saki monkeys
White-faced saki monkeys (Pithecia pithecia) come from the forests of Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guyana.
They live in small family groups occupying primary evergreen, coastal, savanna, palm, and gallery forest.
Saki monkeys eat fruit, seeds, flowers, leaves, and animal prey.
They have a territorial call that is similar to howler monkeys as well as a growl that is a warning.
Sakis generally give birth to a single infant that is not fully mature until two years old.
Marmosets
Marmosets come from Brazil in South America. They are small rainforest monkeys that weigh less than 500g.
Members of this genus have enlarged incisor teeth that are the same size as the canines. These incisors are used for gouging out holes in trees in order to extract gums, resins and saps.
Marmosets live in family groups in which usually only the dominant female breeds and the whole group are involved in raising the young.
Stump-tailed macaque
Stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides) come from Southern China and Southeast Asia.
They live in lowland forest, monsoon forest, dry forest, and montane forest up to 2000m.
They prefer dense forest and are occasionally found near human settlements and temples.
Stump-tailed macaques live in multi-male/multi-female groups where matrilineal hierarchies are very strong.
Group size ranges from approximately 5-40 individuals.
These macaques eat fruit, seeds, young leaves, flowers, buds, and animal prey including insects, birds, and eggs.
These monkeys use their cheek pouches to hoard food that they can then eat at their leisure.
Females generally give birth to a single infant.
Patas monkeys
Patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) range from West Africa to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in the East.
They live in acacia woodlands and the savannah in 1 male with multi-female groups.
Individuals from all male groups join mixed groups during the breeding season.
Babies are born black changing to normal colour by 2 months old.
Average life span is 22 years.
Patas monkeys eat fruit, seeds, grasses, animal prey and eggs.
Males bounce up and down as a warning and they have different alarm calls for different predators, otherwise they have few vocalisations.
With their long legs, patas monkeys can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour, the fastest of all primates.
White-throated guenons
The white-throated guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster), also known as the red-bellied monkey and the red-bellied guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives on trees of rainforests or tropical areas of Nigeria and Benin.
The white-throated guenons eat fruit, insects and leaves and lives in groups of 10-30 monkeys. Solitary males have also been observed.
They are arboreal, living in moist tropical forest, evergreen and semi-deciduous coastal and secondary forest.
Males weigh from 3.5–4.5 kg and females weigh 2–4 kg.
White-throated guenons live in single male, multi-female groups.
Females give birth to one offspring.
The white-throated guenon was once considered extinct due to constant hunting for the fur of its unique red belly and white front legs. Yet, a small group was found near the Niger River in 1988.
The white-throated guenon is still considered a vulnerable species near extinction due to its decreasing population. Today, its territory is protected and regarded as a holy land, where hunting and logging is restricted.
Little is known about these monkeys as they move quietly and very quickly through thick cover.
There are two subspecies of white-throated guenon:
