A Monkey that blushes when it is angry is the uakari, which also enjoys the distinction of being the only one of the New World monkeys to possess a short tail, a. feature fairly common in the Old World monkeys. The uakari is a cat-sized monkey with a well-developed brain and superior intelligence. Its favoured habitat is among the high places of the forests, through which it travels on streets and avenues of crossing and intertwining limbs, vines, and branches.
It fears only the eagles that soar over the forest and the few snakes that venture up from the ground. There are three species of uakari, and two of them possess the power of blushing. The bald or white uakari, found in the Amazon region, has a pink face and skin and a coat of lank, grey hair. The red uakari, found in a neighbouring region, has a vermilion face, paler skin, and a coat of long reddish hair. These two will turn even redder in the face when stirred to anger. The third type of uakari, the black-headed uakari, does not. It was probably one of the blushing uakari that the Spaniards called “mono feo” or “ugly monkey.” Bald and hairless about its head, with its long coat bedraggled- looking at best, the uakari may, to human standards, seem far from beautiful.
The uakari is particularly unsuited to life in captivity, being neither very lively nor very hardy when put in a cage. The younger ones are said to be more willing to attach themselves to keepers and to adapt to zoo life, but even they are very sensitive to climate, diet, and other factors.
Although not sociable to any degree in captivity, uakaris are normally friendly in the wild, and travel and band together with others of their kind. They do develop family groups. The males are very protective of the females and will attack a person who appears to threaten them. The normal diet of uakaris is fruit, which may include shoots, nuts, roots, bulbs. In captivity they have been found very difficult to keep poper1y nourished.
Uakari monkey Pictures
