Red Uakari

Scientific Name: Cacajao calvus rubicundus

Fast Fact:
The bright red faces of these primates may make them attractive as mates because unhealthy red uakaris have pale faces.

Almost totally arboreal -- meaning that they live in trees -- these diurnal animals spend most of their day foraging in the branches of the rain forest canopy and sleeping at night in the high branches of the trees.

STATUS: The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) classifies the animals as Vulnerable, meaning that their population is decreasing. They are hunted for food and sometimes captured as pets by indigenous peoples. An additional problem is that their habitat is being destroyed by logging, mining and agriculture. Roads created by these activities make it easier to find the monkeys.

HABITAT: Red uakaris live only in the Amazon river basin of South America. They prefer flooded rain forests and locations near water such as rivers, lakes and swamps.

DIET: These colorful primates eat fruit, insects, leaves and small vertebrates. When food is scarce during dry seasons, they may search on the ground for fallen seeds or roots. Their strong incisor teeth allow them to open large and tough-husked fruits. Red uakaris are the only animals that can release the seedpods inside the fruit of the aguaje palm, allowing the seeds to be dispersed and eaten by other forest animals.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: The bright red faces of these intelligent animals are topped with bald heads. They sport long, shaggy coats ranging in color from orange to reddish brown. Unlike most monkeys, Red uakaris don’t have prehensile tails that can wrap around a tree branch. However, even with their short, bushy tails they are able to move agilely through the forest canopy using their arms and legs. The animals weigh about seven to eleven pounds, have a head and body length of about 20 to 22 inches and a tail about six inches long. It is not known how long they live in the wild. These primates rarely make any sounds.

Social Behavior

Red uakaris are very sociable and live in groups called troops. These units of males, females and young may include up to 100 animals but they split up into smaller bands during the day to forage. Females, who reach sexual maturity at the age of three, give birth to a single infant every two years. Males are six years old when they become sexually mature.