10 animals on the edge of extinction you didn't know about no. 6 - Brown spider monkey

Hello,

Today we're looking at a subspecies of monkey called the brown spider monkey (Ateles hybridus).

The brown spider monkey, also known as the variegated spider monkey, can be found in the Magdalena River basin in Colombia and Venezuela. They live in lowland (sub-)tropical forests. They are social animals, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. These groups have no known social heirachy and are territorial. They split up into smaller groups while foraging for food. Their diet consists of ripe fleshy fruit, flowers, roots, young leaves and seeds. They are vital for the survival of their eco system as they play an important role in seed dispersal.

Adult individuals weigh 6.5 to 9 kg. The females are slightly heavier. They mostly have brown eyes although some have remarkably pale blue eyes. They are about 50 cm big and live for 10-27 years (in the wild). Brown spider monkeys have long legs and a long thin powerful tail. They are better suited to being in the trees where they spend most of their time and are poorly adapted to being on the ground. They are active during the daytime.

Females reach sexual maturity at 8-9 years old and give birth to one baby at a time. The gestation period is 226-232 days (just under 7 months) and the inter birth intervals average at 32-36 months (just under 3 years). They display a polygynandry mating system meaning that both sexes have multiple mating patners. There is no defined mating system and the infacts reach maturity at 4-5 years old.

Unfortunatly, these monkeys are in danger. They are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (since the 23rd March 2020) and have been listed on The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates six times. The IUCN suspects a population decline of 80% over the last three generations (45 years). That decline is continuing. Their suitable habitat is decreasing by 20-30%, leading to a decline in mature individuals. Because females only give birth to one child at a time, it takes the population a very long time to grow, which makes it harder for them to avoid extinction. The main threats are habitat loss through the spread of human civilisations, roads, crop and cattle farming and wood harvesting. They are also hunted for the (partially illeagal) pet trade and for human food and medicine on a local and national level (not internationally).

We hope you enjoyed hearing about these amazing animals. We all hope they will be around in future generations.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39961/17929680
https://www.worldlandtrust.org/species/mammals/brown-spider-monkey/
https://animalia.bio/brown-spider-monkey

Images:

1. This image, owned by Nathan Rupert (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

2. This image, owned by Chuck Dowe (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

3. This image, owned by Marie Hale (on flickr.com) is licensed under CC BY 2.0.