 Black
Howler Monkey
scientific
name
Alouatta
caraya
size
Weight:
Male 16 lbs • Female 12.5 lbs.
Head and Body Length: Male 18.1-28" • Female 15.2-22.3"
Tail length: Male 19.1-29.2" • Female 19.1-27.3"
Females:
80% of size of males.
characteristics
Color:
Long coarse hair• Male black, female and juveniles yellow-brown
Body: Head low on shoulders giving a hunched look • Arms and legs
long in proportion to body • prehensile tail, naked on the underside
• prehensile hand, thumb pseudo-opposable • Genitalia prominent
• Nipples located near armpits
Face: bare and darkly pigmented • Nostrils: close together •
Lower jaw and neck: large, swelling under chin for the larynx, outlined
by beard in male
Feet: Big toe opposable
behavior
Diurnal • Primarily arboreal, occasionally spend short periods
on ground • Locomotion: Slow four-footed gait with prehensile
tail ready to give support or intermittently grasping • Hang
by arms or tail alone when feeding on slender terminal branches • Avoid
leaps but will leap 3-4 yards after much hesitation • Able
to swim if necessary • Tail always tightly coiled around
branch when resting
• Territory: Usually do not have an area of exclusive use but
will defend the territory of current use by howling accompanied by
shaking and breaking of branches • Vocalization: loud and persistent;
deep howls or growls that can carry 1.8 mi. (3 km) in forest and 3.1
mi. (5 km) over water • Troop size: 3-19 with 1-3 adult males
and 2-7 adult females
reproduction/life
span
Life span:
16-20 yrs. in wild; 23 yrs. in captivity
Mate. Sexual Maturity: male 5 yr.; female 3-4 yr
Breeding season: Breed throughout year
Gestation.180-194 days • Interbirth interval: 7-15 months
Offspring: Births single, twinning occasional • Young
will cling to mother for 1 yr
 diet
Wild: Primarily
leaf eater, also buds, flowers and fruit, particularly figs • Feed
in smaller branches of emergent trees
Zoo: monkey chow, vegetables, fruit, browse
habitat/range
Habitat:
Tropical rain forest and mixed deciduous forest • Upper and middle
canopy
Range: Eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina.
status
not listed
• studbook participant
other
Hunted
for food and captured for export.
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