Black-handed spider monkey

Black-handed spider monkey

Scientific name: Ateles geoffroyi
Situation in the wild: Endangered
At the Jerusalem Zoo: Small group
In the Bible: Not mentioned
Like small acrobats suspended in midair, holding the trapeze only by their hands or legs, spider monkeys suspend under the forest canopy, hanging from tree branches by their hands and tails. Spider monkeys belong to the platyrrhine or broad nosed monkeys, which include all the New World monkeys. The black-handed spider monkey, the species that is found here in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, is found in Central America, from Mexico and Belize in the north to Panama in the south, where it lives in the high canopy of the rain, mangrove and temperate forests. All New World monkeys are adapted to life on trees, but spider monkeys are probably the most adapted of them all. Their bodies are slender, their hands and legs are long, and their tail, which is also very long, is prehensile, i.e. it can grasp tree branches. This morphology allows spider monkeys to move among tree branches not only by walking, but also, just as trapeze artists, to get from branch to branch while hanging from one branch and reaching with their hands to the next one, with their tail serving as a fifth limb and secures them against a fall. As they roam the canopy, spider monkeys look for their favorite food: ripe and fleshy fruits. When fruits are scarce spider monkeys may also feed on leaf buds and flowers and supplement their diet with other tree parts and insects. The social structure of spider monkeys consists of loose, unstable groups that include up to 30 individuals. These groups often split to smaller sub-groups that include 5 individuals on average and forage independently in the larger group's territory. The only stable social bond in a spider monkey's life is between a mother and its offspring. Spider monkey females give birth to one infant every two to three years, after a 7.5 month long gestation period. Young spider monkeys are weaned at the age of two, at which time their mother may conceive again. The young reach sexual maturity at the age of 4-5 years, although females often give birth for the first time only several years later. After the young have reach sexual maturity, in order to avoid inbreeding, males stay in their natal groups and females disperse and look for a new group where they may have offspring. Spider monkeys have a life span of about 27 years.
The black handed spider monkey species includes several sub-species, which are found along the species distribution area. All sub-species are endangered, with some sub-species critically endangered. This risk of extinction originates mainly from the destruction of the species' main habitat - the Central American tropical rain forests. This risk is also the reason for keeping the species in captivity and breeding it, with the hope that these efforts, together with the preservation and reconstruction on the species' habitat, will allow to restore the population to its original status.
Today the zoo is home to "Pancho", a 13 year old who was illegally imported to Israel as an infant, together with his brother "Pepe". They were discovered and confiscated by the authorities. "Pancho" spent most of his life in small zoos, often in unsuitable conditions, which hurt his development. Nonetheless, "Pancho" has integrated well in the group of spider monkeys, together with two other monkeys in the exhibit.