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Facts About Spider Monkeys

Spider Monkey Stats:

Spider Monkeys are known as the "trapeze artists" of the animal world. They spend much of their time swinging from limb to limb in the trees high above the jungle floor. These extremely agile monkeys are found in locations such as Mexico, Central America and Northwestern Columbia, where they live in groups of up to 30 individuals. These groups, called "troops", are generally broken down into smaller groups of 3 or 4 individuals who stay together the majority of the time.

Spider Monkeys have a diet which is made up of 90% fruit and in the wild, nuts, seeds, insects and eggs. In captivity, they are fed again, primarily fruit such as bananas, apples and oranges, but are also fed celery, carrots, lettuce and wheat bread.

Using their prehensile (Definition: adapted for grasping or seizing) tails to swing from tree branches leaves their long arms and legs free to grab food items from other branches. Female Spider Monkeys are generally somewhat larger than males and they give birth every 2 or 3 years. Because of the destruction of our rainforests, the Spider Monkey is quickly becoming an endangered species.