Howler Monkey – Genus Alouatta
 
The howler monkey is the loudest monkey and the loudest 
land animal. 
The howler’s call can be heard up to three miles (4.8km) away.

It is the largest New World monkey (monkeys from South, and 
Central America). 
Black howler monkeys are social primates and live high in the
trees of the rain forest of Southern Brazil, Northern Argentina, 
Paraguay and Bolivia. These monkeys are in decline due to 
a loss of habitat.

Adult male Black howlers monkeys are black to brown. 
Females and the young are lighter in colour – sandy yellow. 
Howlers grow to be about 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2m) tall and 
weigh from 8 to 22 pounds (3.5 to 10kg). 
They have a long prehensile tail which acts as a powerful 
fifth limb. It is easily capable of supporting the full weight of a 
monkey as it hangs from a branch,  freeing the hands and feet 
for other uses such as collecting food. 

About 2/3 rds of the underneath of the tail has a palm of 
bare skin which allows a firm grip. 
The tail also helps the monkey to balance as it moves and 
is wrapped around branches as security against falling.

Howlers have a short snout and wide-set round nostrils. 
Adult females usually have one baby at a time. 
They eat mostly leaves but occasionally supplement their 
diet with fruit and maggots. 
Their only predator in the wild (apart from humans) are large 
birds of prey. They live in the tops of trees in organised groups 
of between 3 and 20 individuals. When they feel threatened 
or in difficulty, the group is reorganised and they defend 
themselves screaming, cutting tree branches or defecating on 
the intruder. 

The pet-trade

Unfortunately the pet trade still exists in South America and 
although the Black howler monkey is a protected species in 
Argentina, enforcement of this status is not effective. 
Continued hunting for the bush meat and illegal pet trades 
and habitat destruction ensure that numbers in the wild are 
still declining rapidly.

When a monkey is captured from the wild more animals are 
sacrificed than is required to satisfy the demand. The mother 
who normally carries the offspring is the first to be beaten 
down and killed in order to take the baby.
However, the group’s social bonds are so strong that other 
monkeys which try to defend the female are also sacrificed. 
More animals are affected than those destined to be sold. 
From the capture until the final destination,at least 5 or 6 
died either in the group or amongst the specimens captured.
             

After the event, the social organisation of the clan is harmed 
(which is essential for the survival of the group) and the group 
becomes unstable, the hierarchy, affection and support bonds 
between the members are affected.
             
Up until their final destination the captured babies are kept 
in precarious conditions. They are neglected, are badly fed, 
are stacked etc and those monkeys that do survive arrive in 
a terrible state (wounded, suffering from shock, dehydrated etc).
             
Just like a human baby, primate offspring suffer physically, 
mentally and emotionally. 


The people that acquire it as a ‘pet’ will generally treat it like a 
puppy – out of ignorance. Under these conditions the baby 
cannot survive. It can only survive if treated like a human baby. 
This in itself brings forth another problem, the “humanization of 
the animal”– they learn to behave and act like a human being.
             
Before the offspring was captured it was progressing through a 
transitionary period of physical and psychological development 
at the same time coining different aspects of socialization. 
This process interrupted means that monkeys which reach 
adulthood as a pet will have been transformed into socially 
inept animals, aggressive, depressed and having developed 
strange neurotic behaviours.

In the rehabilitation centre we work with orphan animals and 
monkeys turned "mistakenly" into pets. All have been taken 
from their natural habitats to satisfy the pet trade and to be 
held as exhibits in zoo’s. 
All the monkeys have come from voluntary hand-ins, seizures
by the government from throughout the country. 

The program of the centre consists of various stages of 
physical, psychological and social rehabilitation; that is, 
"we teach the monkeys to be monkeys again".