BOO came to us in August 2021 at 10 years old from a private family as an owner surrender. They had lived in Nevada where it is legal to own a monkey but moved to Utah where it is not legal. They loved him very much and spent a year visiting various other animal sanctuaries before deciding that Boo should live here at Animal Tracks and become part of our monkey family. They are one of the very few families that actually continue to provide some support for Boo and still visit him regularly – at this point we consider them to also be part of our family! Boo has never been around other monkeys, so try as we might to get him interested in being with one of our other capuchins, he is really only interested in people, as he never learned how to actually be a monkey. He does spend a couple of hours a day with one of our females, Maci with the hopes that he will start conducting his own monkey business, but so far he much prefers his human friends, which is fine with us!
ORDER: PRIMATES
FAMILY: CEBIDAE
GENUS: SAPAJUS
SPECIES: APELLA
Capuchins are diurnal or day dwelling. They are arboreal, live in the trees. They move quadrupedally, by leaping and climbing. They are highly sociable and live in groups of around 8 to 15 individuals. Grooming is a way of taking care of the ones you love, but also climbing the social ladder. They live in a patriarchal society where the male is boss. They are omnivores and eat fruit, leaves, insects, rodents, and reptiles. They are polygamists. The female is pregnant for 150-160 days and normally has one baby at a time. The babies stop nursing at 9 months. Males mature at the age of 7 years, females, much younger, they can have their first child at the age of 4. Capuchins have a superpower, they are seed dispersers, which means they eat the seeds as part of the fruit they consume, and once they defecate, those seeds are ready to become plants and trees.
Threats
Habitat destruction. Jaguars, birds of prey and bushmeat, pet trade and entertainment industry.
Conservation Status
CE - Critically Endangered