White-Faced Saki

Pithecia pithecia

Animal Class: Mammals

Length: 12 – 14 inches (head/body length; tail is approx. as long as body)

Weight: 3 – 4 pounds

Lifespan: They live around 14 years in the wild, 35 years in human care.

Diet: Wild: fruit, berries, nuts, flowers, leaves, and sometimes birds, insects, mice, and bats

Habitat: White-faced sakis live in the forests (evergreen, savanna, and mountain forests) of South America. They prefer to live in the understory and lower canopy levels of the trees. These sakis can be found in Brazil, Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Description: White-faced sakis have shaggy coats with sexually dichromatic coloration. The males have a dark coat and a white face. The females do not have a white face. Their fur is brown except for a pale belly and white stripes beneath each the eyes. The sakis earned the nickname “Flying Monkeys” because of their leaping ability. They can leap up to 32 feet. They hop bipedally, but leap, walk, and climb on all fours.

Our Animals: Marcelo, Ella, Reuben, Josephine