Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rescue Center - Costa Rica

Spider monkeys Ateles geoffroyi

Spider monkeys are found in the tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The genus contains seven species including the critically endangered Black-headed Spider Monkey and Brown Spider Monkey.

The disproportionately long limbs and long prehensile tail makes them one of the largest New World monkeys and gives rise to their common name. Spider monkeys live in the upper layers of the rainforest and forage in the high canopy, from 25 to 30 m (82 to 98 ft).They primarily eat fruits, but will also occasionally consume leaves, flowers, and insects. Due to their large size, spider monkeys require large tracts of moist evergreen forests and prefer undisturbed primary rainforest areas. They are social animals and live in bands of up to 35 individuals but will split up to forage during the day.

Spider monkeys are an important food source due to their large size and are widely hunted by local human populations; they are also threatened by habitat destruction due to logging and land clearing. The population trend for spider monkeys is decreasing; the IUCN Red List lists one species as vulnerable, four species as endangered and two species as critically endangered.

Spider monkeys are among the largest New World monkeys; Black-headed Spider Monkeys, the largest spider monkey, have an average weight of 10.8 kg (24 lb) for males and 9.66 kg (21.3 lb) for females. Disproportionately long, spindly limbs inspired the spider monkey's common name. Their deftly prehensile tails, which may be up to 89 cm (35 in) long, have very flexible, hairless tips and skin grooves similar to fingerprints. This adaptation to the spider monkey's strictly arboreal lifestyle serves as a fifth hand. When the monkey walks, its arms practically drag on the ground. Unlike many monkeys, they do not use their arms for balance when walking, instead relying on their tail. The hands are long, narrow and hook like, and have no thumbs. The fingers are elongated and curved.

Their hair is coarse, ranging in color from ruddy gold to brown and black; the hands and feet are usually black. Heads are small with hairless faces. The nostrils are very far apart, which is a distinguishing feature of spider monkeys.

In the past, this native species was distributed in every single forest here in Costa Rica! 

Our Guests

Hercules

Jessica’s history

Jessica was living in bad conditions at one of the tourist centers until our friends from BEN (Children’s Eternal Rainforest) confiscated her and brought her to Proyecto Asis.  Jessica is around 12 years old and at first was a bit aggressive. Now she is very happy and always wants to say hello or to hold your hand!

Jessica, Hercules, and Mombli have become part of our family here at Proyecto Asis and many of our volunteers have enjoyed getting to know them!Unfortunately we cannot release them back into the wild because they’ve spent most of their lives in very bad conditions and wouldn’t survive on their own.

How you can help?

You can help by simply taking part in our Spanish and Volunteer programs, bringing student/ volunteer groups or

Adopt a Spider Monkey!