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Prospect Park Zoo News
Romance in the Rainforest
They may swing, but don’t call them swingers. Opus and Winola, the Prospect Park Zoo’s new white-faced saki monkeys, are mates for life. With their soulful glances and habit of mutual grooming, this pair is ratcheting up the romance in the Zoo’s rainforest.
It’s easy to tell Winola and her mate apart—like all male Pithecia pithecia, Opus’s face is white. When they’re not pausing to admire one another, the energetic duo is generally on the move. Their brawny bodies are well suited for an active life in trees, and they use their strong hind legs to jump from branch to branch in the exhibit’s canopy. In the wild, the trees provide most of the saki’s diet, which includes fruits, leaves, and flowers. The monkeys will also eat insects and small animals. During naptime, you can find the zoo’s pair curled up like housecats in the treetops.
Wild saki monkey pairs live alone or with their offspring in the rainforests of Brazil and other South American countries. Territorial, sakis will defend their home turf. Though considered shy, these monkeys have a loud roar that can scare away even the most aggressive predators. Other vocalizations include shrill cries and bird-like chirps to help the family keep in touch.
While not an endangered species, saki monkeys are vulnerable to habitat loss. One in four New World monkeys are endangered or close to extinction, and the threat grows as more and more tropical forests are lost to agriculture and human development. In an effort to protect the saki and other South American primates, the Wildlife Conservation Society is working to reconcile human development needs with wildlife and wild land conservation.
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