Animals
Class: Mammal
Biome:
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
About this animal
The Pale-faced Saki is a new world monkey that resides primarily in the tropical forests of South America. The saki lives in small, quiet groups and eats fruit and leaves as well as small animals. It is highly acrobatic – accounting for its local name of “flying monkey”. Saki monkeys can leap as far as 30 feet between branches. They have strong canine teeth which enables them to crack open the hard shells of nuts and seeds. If threatened, they fluff up and shake their body hair. Then they stomp their feet with their backs arched. Females have one young at a time. They usually give birth in late November or December. Infants cling to the mother’s belly; later they cling to the back. Born with brown fur, at two months old the males begin changing color to black with white faces, but the females stay brown. After six months, the young are independent. Saki monkeys are usually seen alone or in pairs. They often live in groups of up to twelve individuals. They are diurnal (active during the day). Sakis stay in the canopy of the rainforest most of the time and rarely come to the ground, except to feed at the shrub layer. At night they sleep coiled on branches.
Did you know?
They display sexual dichromatism. This means the male and female display different colours. The male is black with a white face and the female is brown with white stripes below each eye.
