Description
We care for a pair of male black-faced black spider monkeys called Ike
and Jackson. They can be distinguished from their neighbours, Ella and
Tino, by their much darker faces. Jackson was born at Blackpool Zoo.
Ike was born at Dublin Zoo and hand raised by his keepers. Ike can be
identified by his much longer face and these two males are great
companions, they rarely fall out and often curl up together to nap in
the afternoons.
Ike is the most interested in humans and displays infantile behaviours
towards his keepers because of his upbringing. They have very similar
behaviour to the other black spider monkeys. They are very expressive
and use a range of calls and body postures to tell us how they are
feeling. Watch out for their excited chatter, the high pitched
whistling they use at feeding time to beg for food and the coughing
sound that signals anticipation.
When they are very excited they salivate (dribble) on their chests and
rub their hands on their chest stimulating a scent gland. Spider
monkeys spend most of their time resting and travelling to food sites
in the wild. They often display short bursts of energy, swinging wildly
around the enclosure and Ike occasionally runs upright on two feet.
They definitely have one of the sweetest natures of all our monkeys.
Price: From £5.00 per year