The brown spider monkey is one of the seven species of spider monkeys that can be spotted in the forests of Northern Colombia and Northwestern Venezuela.
They are primates that prefer undisturbed dense forests, and stay most of the time high in trees. Instead of walking or running on all fours, these monkeys travel mostly by swinging and climbing.
However, it is not for their strange eating habits that the brown spider monkeys are in the news, but for the threat of extinction they face. This species was among the world’s 25 most endangered primates as of 2004 and 2006, and has been classified as critically endangered, by the IUCN Red List.
Hunting and habitat destruction due to human encroachment, conversion of forests into agricultural lands etc. are the main factors that threaten them. Its slow reproductive rate also makes the situation worse.
Serrania de San Lucas in southern Bolivar is one of the places where the monkeys are protected. There are also various zoos, especially in Europe, that provide them safe shelters.
Picture credit: google