Pale Faced Saki Monkeys

scientific name

Pithecia pithecia

size

Weight: Male 3.5 lbs; Female 3 lbs.
Head and body length: Male 13.8-18.7 in; Female 11.7-16.6 in.
Tail length: Male 12.3-19.9 in.; Female 10-21.3 in.

characteristics

Color: black • Coat thick, coarse, shaggy and long • Male has black muzzle surrounded by creamy-white hairs • Female has bright stripe of hair from beneath each eye to corner of mouth or chin
Body: Tail thick, bushy, non-prehensile, tapers to a point • Legs much longer than arms • Hand prehensile, thumb pseudo-opposable • Nipples located near the armpit • Males sometimes have a large glandular area on throat extending onto chest surrounded by naked skin
Face: Nose flask-shaped with widely separated nostrils

Behavior: Diurnal • Rarely come to ground • Prefer middle levels of forest • Sometimes descend from the canopy to the shrub layer for feeding • Move on all fours, occasionally seen to run upright on horizontal branches • Climbers, can make long downward leaps in trees • Sleep coiled on open branches like a cat. • Usually seen alone or in pairs, family group size no more than 5 • Vocalization: silent in captivity but emit loud and penetrating call in wild

reproduction/life span

Life span: Longest longevity in zoo 35 yr.
Gestation: 163-167 days
Birth: Single young • Births late November or December • Infants cling to mother's belly, later shifting to back • Young independent after 6 months

diet

Wild: Fruit, principally berries; also honey, leaves, flowers, small mammals and small birds • Have been seen going into hollow trees to collect bats which they tear apart and skin before eating
Zoo: fruits, monkey chow, vegetables

habitat/range