Saymiri - description, habitat, lifestyle

In the world there are so many pretty and funny animals living in the wild. Among them are many who people seek to tame and domesticate. After all, not every owner is enough to have a familiar cat or hamster in the house. There are a lot of people who just want exotic things, love unusual animals or tend to envy their friends and acquaintances by showing off an unusual animal. People keep wild cats, snakes, and iguanas in their homes.

Among these animals there is a cute monkey saimiri. People generally are very warm to many species of monkeys. After all, they are active and cheerful animals that are able to cheer up. In addition, they have a lot of signs that are very similar to people. This also applies to the appearance and behavior of monkeys.

If you believe one of the theories that the scientist Darwin put forward, then these cute little animals are our historical ancestors. This theory, many deny and do not believe in it.But, those not less, it exists. In any case, monkeys always remain the favorites of the public, which amuse both children and adults.

Habitat

Representatives of the species live in tropical forests in countries such as Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay. You can also see them in Costa Rica. In South America, the most suitable climate for them. In the thickets of rainforest monkeys cool enough. Here they find enough food for themselves.

These monkeys do not live only high in the mountains. In the highlands they do not feel very comfortable. There it is more difficult for them to hide from predatory animals.

You can also meet saimyri in Brazil near the plantations where coffee is growing. And just south of Paraguay, the climate zone is different. Therefore, representatives of the species in this area can be found less and less.

Almost all the time, these cute monkeys spend on the tree, but usually settle near the reservoir. It usually grows more food, and do not need to get far to the source of water.

Appearance

The body length of saimiri is about 30 cm. They weigh about 1 kg. The tail reaches a length of about 0.5 m and more, that is, it is longer than the torso of the animal. The tail of the saimiri does not serve as the fifth limb. It is used by animals for balancing.

The body is covered with short hair. On the paws of saimiri wool is red, and on the back it is tinged with a dark shade of olive, or gray with a greenish tint. There are also black saimiri. Their wool is dyed in darker colors: from dark gray to completely black.

The muzzle of these animals is very pretty and funny. They have light circles around their eyes. Saimiri ears are also white. Sometimes representatives of this species are called “dead heads,” since their mouth is black and the hair around their eyes is light.

Despite this name, this big-eyed animal is very cute. The brain mass is 1/17 of the entire body weight of the animal. Among all other primates, this is the largest indicator in relation to body weight. But this body does not have their convolutions.

Lifestyle

These cute monkeys live in groups.The few of them consist of 50-60 individuals. But further, where the forest becomes very dense, their flocks are even larger.

In Brazil, one group of these monkeys usually has about 350-400 individuals. As a rule, one of the males is the main one in the whole group. But sometimes in one group there are 2 or 3. They have an advantage over other males. It consists in the fact that the female alpha male chooses himself. The remaining males must show diligence to win the chosen one.

If there are several dominant males in the group, and an irreconcilable conflict arises between them, sometimes the pack falls apart. Sometimes from one large group is formed somewhat if a part of the animals wants to stay in a certain territory, and the rest want to find another place. But there are cases when a disconnected group after some time merges again.

Saymiri perfectly jump in one branch to another, they are excellent wood-dwarfs. Even those females who have a baby on their backs can easily jump 5 m. They spend a lot of time looking for food, moving through the trees and grass thickets.They merge with the tree on which they sit, so it is difficult to notice a motionless monkey even close up. They are most active during the day. During the day, these animals almost always move. At night, they climb to the top of a palm tree. There they can rest easy without feeling danger.

These cute monkeys are very shy, so safety is of great importance to them. At night, they almost freeze, afraid to even move. During the day, they can escape from any rustle, even if in reality there is no danger.

If one animal is frightened, it emits a characteristic loud cry. The whole flock immediately runs away after this shout. During the day, they communicate with each other using chirping sounds. Members of the pack stick together, trying not to get lost and keep up with each other.

Special features

These animals do not tolerate a decrease in air temperature and climate change. Even in their native land in the steppe, they never live.

The European climate is completely unsuitable for representatives of this species. Therefore, they rarely contain even in zoos in Europe. They are very fond of warmth.Even in tropical forests, they prefer to warm themselves. Sometimes they hug their fellows, and sometimes they wrap their own tail around their necks.

Sometimes about a dozen individuals gather in a ball, trying to keep warm as best they can. These monkeys are shy, often worried for some reason. At these moments, tears come out in front of their eyes.

Home maintenance

If saimiri grew up in captivity, it is easy to tame them. But they are kept in the homes of representatives of this species extremely rarely. To acquire such a monkey, you have to pay about 80-120 thousand rubles. But, this is not the only obstacle that makes you wonder whether it is worth buying saimiri. The main disadvantage of saimiri as pets is terrible untidiness. While eating, they squeeze the fruit, causing the juice to spray in all directions. They also rub the tip of their tail with their urine. They squeal very loudly, just like in the forest. Smart enough to get used to the toilet, but do not like bathing. And they should be bathed as often as possible.

It is interesting! The natives were afraid of this animal because of the color of the head, similar to a skull.They came up with the name "dead head", and feared them as demons. But over time, the fear passed, and the nickname remained.

Nutrition

The diet of saimiri is fruit, nuts. They also eat animal food: snails, various insects, chicks and even small animals. We can say that they are almost omnivorous.

If you still decide to keep such a monkey at home, you can feed it with specially designed food. Such products are manufactured by some manufacturers. In addition to food, the animal will need to give fresh juices and fruits, a variety of vegetables. Sometimes it is necessary to add greens, cottage cheese and sour milk to the diet.

They can also be given boiled meat, eggs and fish. As a delicacy, they will like locusts and cockroaches. Citrus in the diet are required.

Fat, seasoned and salty food these monkeys can not be given.

Breeding

During this period, the main male of the pack increases in size.His behavior becomes more aggressive than usual. Pregnancy with saimiri lasts about 6 months.

During the first 2-3 weeks after birth, the baby is almost always sleeping. With his tenacious fingers, he clings to his mother's fur. Then he gradually begins to look around, try the food. They are very playful and mobile.

When kept in captivity, saimiri can live 12-15 years. In nature, they have a lot of enemies, so few people reach this age.

Video: Saimiri