Species Data
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Atelidae
Scientific Name: Lagothrix lagothricha
IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable
Description
Common Woolly Monkeys are mostly brown, covered in a thick fur. Their faces are furless, and typically black.
Common Woolly Monkeys can reach ages of up to 30 years old and are diurnal – they are active in the day. During this time, Common Woolly Monkeys can be spotted climbing through the forest at great speeds; some estimates suggest that they can reach speeds of up to 35mph!
The Common Woolly Monkey mostly eats fruit, but sometimes insects and seeds find their way into their diets as well.
Behaviour
The Common Woolly Monkey spends most of its time foraging; swinging from tree to tree in search of clusters of fruit.
Male Woolly Monkeys tend to be more social than their female counterparts, socializing with both sexes, whereas the females typically tend to socialise with purely males, eschewing socialisation with others of the same sex.
Common Woolly Monkeys typically use all four limbs when travelling, as well as making consistent use of their long, prehensile tail.
Habitat
The Common Woolly Monkey lives in lowland primary forests and cloud forests in Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil, thriving in the canopies of the tallest trees.
They are also known to enter flooded forests at certain times of the year to feed on fruits.
Threats and Conservation
Despite its name, the Common Woolly Monkey is under threat and its population is decreasing.
Due to a combination of hunting pressure and habitat loss, the IUCN predicts population numbers will fall by 30% or more over the next 45 years.
To ensure the survival of this gregarious primate, we must protect their forest strongholds from infrastructure development and agricultural expansion, which you can do right now by supporting WLT’s Life on the Edge appeal.
