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The black howler (Alouatta caraya) or black-and-gold howler, [2] is among the largest New World monkeys and a member of the Alouatta genus. [3] [4] The black howler is distributed in areas of South America such as Paraguay, southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, northern Argentina, and Uruguay.
The Black howler monkeys are diurnal and social animals. They usually form units of 5 - 19 individuals, typically composed of 1 - 3 mature males and 2 - 4 mature females with their young. Males of this species are known to form bachelor herds.
Males usually have black hair, which gives the species the common name of Black Howler monkey. Females however have more yellow-brown or olive colored hair. Infants are born with a golden coat, which changes as the animal matures. A. caraya have long, strong prehensile tails.
Black howler monkeys are the loudest terrestrial animals in the Western Hemisphere! Found in South America, they are usually the largest, most abundant primate in their range. These monkeys are born with blond fur, but the male's fur turns black as they mature.
They are characteristically covered by black hair, which is a bit longer near the throat, and they have white genitalia (Treves, Drescher, & Snowdon, 2003). Males have a pink scrotum, which distinguishes Alouatta pigra from Alouatta palliata (Horwich, 1983a).
A pair of black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) vocalising. As their name suggests, vocal communication forms an important part of their social behavior. They each have an enlarged basihyal or hyoid bone, which helps them make their loud vocalizations. Group males generally call at dawn and dusk, as well as interspersed times throughout the day.
Our pair is named “Wings” (the male) and “Grebe” (the female). We have been caring for them as part of the European studbook for nearly ten years, but unfortunately, they have never bred. The image features Grebe, who is gold in colour, while the males are black.
