Fota: Wildlife Park

About this animal

Our two individuals Pedro (Born April 26th 2006) and Mo (Born 12th July 2005) arrived in March and April from Paris, France and Banham, England respectively. As with any new animals we wondered if they would take to each other's company and settle in their new home but any fears were quickly allayed with maybe Pedro's French sophistication quelling any possible disputes!

The natural habitat of the Black Howler monkey is not the safety of Fota or the refinement of Pedros former Parisian home, but the New World forests of Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and northern Argentina. These animals are arboreal, spending the majority of their time in the forest canopy, rarely venturing on to the forest floor. This time spent high in the trees is split between feeding and social activities, but with the majority spent resting. Due to the high leaf content of the Black Howler monkeys' diet, this time is required to digest and break down the large amount of plant material they consume. They are known to consume more leaves than any of the other New World monkeys, which is not hard to believe given they are the largest of the New World's primates! One adaptation which is vital to the Black Howler monkey's survival is its ability to break down older mature leaves as well as young, and less fibrous, leaves. Their wide distribution and ability to adapt to fragmented habitat can be attributed to these leaf eating abilities.

While they may not be the most active of the primates here in the park, the Howlers possess the characteristic prehensile tail which is prominent in many New World monkeys and vital to their arboreal lifestyle. The tail is used both for balance and grip during active movement and as an anchor when they are resting high in the treetops. The movement they exhibit is interesting in its trundling type locomotion, with the animals carefully anchoring one foot firmly on their terrain before moving the next to a new position. Their movement has been likened to the surefooted manoeuvres of a chameleon!

While the species is termed the ‘Black' Howler Monkey you will notice that the female sports a golden or brown coloured coat. This species, just like our Saki monkey group, exhibits sexual dichromatism, that being that individuals of the different sexes exhibit different colour forms. As babies, the Howler Monkeys coat will be of a similar colour to that of the female. Depending on its sex this colour may then change over time with its adult coat colour emerging as it reaches maturity. This colour variation between the males and females of the species is believed to be a survival adaptation, allowing the female to blend into the colours of the surrounding forest and thus allowing her to tend to her young in relative safety.

Being hidden in the canopy does not present a problem in communicating with each other because as the name suggests the Black ‘Howler' monkey is a vociferous animal, in fact they are known to be one of the world's loudest animals (which according to the Guinness book of world records can be heard clearly for up to 3 miles!). The anatomy of the howlers' specialised voice box allows it to expand and amplify its calling sounds to reach those record breaking levels. The calls serve a similar function to Pedro and Mo's noisy neighbours the Siamang Gibbons, that being to keep in touch with other members of the troop and serving a territorial function in letting other troops know of their location. The territorial boundaries of howler troops (which can consist of up to 30 individuals) are mapped out by howling sessions with neighbouring troops.

Both of the sexes will make these calls but the male's call will be louder and deeper. The calls of these animals in the wild are correlated with dusk, dawn and during tropical downpours and our pair have been finding their voice as of late. Many of the Parks patrons have been looking for the source of the noise in disbelief as it is quite disconcerting but at the same time an astounding din! Given the fact that there are no rival troops with which Pedro and Mo would normally be announcing their territory to, they may not be as vocal as wild populations of howlers. However, the rumble of the Parks tour train appears to have taken the place of a rival vocalization and they can often be heard responding to the engines noise!

Together with a number of other South American primate species the status of the Black Howler monkey is of Least Concern, although the population numbers are on the decline. They have a large presence in several national parks, and possess greater ability than many other species to adapt to fragmented and modified habitats. The slow decline in numbers that has been recorded since the mid-nineties can be linked to the loss of habitat for agricultural purposes in Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina, but it is hopeful that the large swathes of protected forest can ensure the persistence of these incredible primates.