Description
Body length: 36 - 57 cm (14
- 22 inches); Weight: 2.3 - 3.5 kg (5 - 7.7 lb) Upperparts bright
orange, crown of head whitish yellow; face and crown naked; bulging
muscles giving head square appearance in males. Large bulging
canines under lips. Long coarse hair forms cape over shoulders;
non-prehensile tail hairy, short and stumpy.
Range
South America; central
Amazon Basin of Colombia, Brazil, Peru. Poorly known range.
Habitat
Arboreal; found in primary
forest, in terra firme and seasonally or permanently
flooded forest. Prefer palm swamps and forest near streams. Move
seasonally to follow fruiting, but also feed extensively on unripe
fruits. Live in middle and upper canopy, may descend to ground
to feed on seeds and seedlings.
Niche
Diurnal; live in groups of 10
- 120 individuals; may split into smaller groups to forage. Eat
fruits, seeds, leaves, nectar, and insects, particularly caterpillars.
Use canines to crack hard seeds and fruit husks. Very active monkeys,
move farther daily than most New World monkeys. Range may exceed
150 km2. Sleep on highest branches of large trees.
Life History
Give birth to a single young,
carried by mother.
Status
CITES Appendix I; IUCN
Red List. Endangered to vulnerable. Hunted for meat in Peru, for
bait in Brazil, where they are not eaten because their faces look
very human. Extinct in much of former range in Peru because of
hunting and habitat disturbance from logging; especially vulnerable
because of its requirement for primary forest as habitat.
The Reserva
Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo is the only protected area in Peru
inhabited by red uakari.
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