Mexican Spider Monkey

This very social primate can be found in groups – or troops – scattered across the Central and South American rainforests of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador. During the day, they tend to split up into smaller groups to search for tasty fruits to eat before coming back to their larger, communal group to socialize in the evening. During this socialization they can be found grooming, playing, or – in some circumstances – fighting amongst each other. All of these actions help to define social relations among monkey troops and – in many ways – helps to bring them closer together. Since spider monkeys are arboreal and exist almost entirely in the trees of their native rainforests, the survival of these monkeys is entirely dependent upon the survival of the forests. They require large tracts of primary forest to survive, and are vulnerable to deforestation. They are some-times hunted by humans for meat and captured for the pet trade. Because of low reproductive turnover, they cannot quickly replenish their numbers when affected by these events. As a result, Mexican spider monkeys have completely disappeared from some areas where they were once common.