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Open
Daily
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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White-Faced Saki Monkey |
male |
female |
| Scientific Name: |
Pithecia pithecia |
| Range: |
Southern and eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and
northeastern Brazil |
| Habitat: |
Tropical rainforests |
| Natural Diet: |
Fruit, leaves, flowers, small mammals and small birds |
| Zoo Diet: |
Commercial primate biscuit, canned primate food, vegetables, fruit,
nuts, cottage cheese and yogurt |
Physical
Characteristics: |
Males have white faces; females have dark faces. Their fur is
thick, coarse, shaggy, and long. They do not have prehensile (able to
grasp or hold something) tails. Sakis weigh about 3-4 pounds. They are
11-19 inches long, head and body. Their tails are 10-22 inches long. |
| Behavior: |
Saki monkeys are usually seen alone or in pairs. They often live in
groups of up to twelve. 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. |
| Reproduction: |
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. |
| Notes: |
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. |
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