Animal Info - Red Uakari

(Other Names: Bald Uakari, Bald-headed Uakari, Cacajao, Cacayao, English Monkey, Huapo Colorado, Huapo Rojo, Ouakari Chauve, Red-and-white Uacari, White Bald-headed Uacari, White Uakari, Uacari, Uacaries)

Cacajao calvus (Includes C. rubicundus)

1. Profile (Picture)
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where Currently Found, History of Distribution, Threats and Reasons for Decline)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Weight, Habitat, Age to Maturity, Birth Season, Birth Rate, Maximum Reproductive Age, Maximum Age, Diet, Behavior, Social Organization, Density and Range)
5. References

Profile

Pictures: White Uakari subspecies (15 Kb JPEG); Red Uakari subspecies (31 Kb JPEG)

The red uakari is a medium-sized monkey weighing about 4 kg (9 lb). The swamp forests that it lives in are periodically flooded. Uakaris are diurnal and are often found in the tops of large trees. Most of the uakari's diet consists of fruit, but leaves, seeds, insects and small animals are also consumed. Troops of uakaris have been reported to include up to 50 individuals. They usually forage for food in much smaller groups but rejoin the troop to sleep. One young is born every 2 years.

The red uakari is found in flooded swamp forests of Amazonia in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Threats include hunting for food and the pet trade and deforestation of its habitat for lumber.

Tidbits

*** Uakaris eat the same food as other medium-sized monkeys. However, uakaris are the only monkeys of their type to occupy flooded swamp forest habitat.

*** Hunting is not a serious problem for the subspecies C. c. calvus because human population density in its habitat is low, and because most residents don't eat them, considering them to be either too ugly or too human (Ayres & Johns 1987).

*** Surveys of unlogged and logged varzeas in the middle 1980's indicated that moderate levels of logging apparently did not result in population reduction or reduce breeding of the subspecies C. c. calvus (Ayres & Johns 1987).

Status and Trends

IUCN Status:

1970's: Indeterminate
1980's: Vulnerable
1994: Endangered
1996 - 2002: Vulnerable (Criteria: A1cd)
2003 - 2004: Near Threatened (IUCN 2004)

Countries Where the Red Uakari Is Currently Found:

2004: Occurs in Brazil, Colombia and Peru (IUCN 2004).

History of Distribution:

In 1966, the red uakari was known to occur between the Amazon and the Putumay Rivers in western Brazil and eastern Peru (C.c. rubicundus) and in the region between the Amazon and Japura Rivers in western Brazil (C. c. calvus). As of 1984, C. c. rubicundus was known to occur north of the Amazon River from Rio Japura (Brazil) west to the Andean foothills; and south of the Amazon River from Rio Jurua (Brazil) to Rio Huallaga (Peru). As of 1987 C. c. calvus was known to occur only in varzea habitat in a small area between the Japura and Solimoes Rivers (Brazil).

Up to the late 1980's, this species thought to include two subspecies, C. c. rubicundus and C.c. calvus. Subsequently, two additional subspecies were identified. C. c. novaesi was thought to occur between the Biru and Tarauca Rivers, and C. c. ucayalii was thought to occur between the Ucayali and Solimoes Rivers. Currently the red uakari is thought to occur in Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

Distribution Map #1 (18 Kb) (InfoNatura)
Distribution Map #2 (261 Kb JPEG) (Inst. Ciên. Biol.)

Threats and Reasons for Decline:

Reasons for the decline of the red uakari include hunting for food and trapping for pets and the export trade (C. c. rubicundus) and deforestation of its habitat for lumber (C. c. calvus).

Data on Biology and Ecology

Weight:

The red uakari weighs 3 - 4 kg (6.6 - 8.8 lb).

Habitat:

The red uakari is found in flooded swamp forest. It occurs in the Varzea Flooded Forests and the Varzea & Igapo Freshwater Ecosystems Global 200 Ecoregions. (Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999)

Age to Maturity:

Female: 3 years; male: 6 years.

Birth Season:

May - October (captives in the Northern Hemisphere).

Birth Rate:

1 young is born at a time. Average annual birth rate for female young: 0.25. Time between birth is about 2 years.

Maximum Reproductive Age:

Female: 11 years.

Maximum Age:

Up to 23 years (captivity).

Diet:

Most of the uakaris' diet consists of fruit, but they probably also eat leaves, seeds, insects and small animals.

Behavior:

Uakaris are often found in the tops of large trees. They rarely descend to the ground when the forest is flooded. They are mainly diurnal.

Social Organization:

Troops of uakaris have been reported to include up to 50 individuals, but they usually forage for food in much smaller groups. They usually rejoin the troop to sleep.

Average group size in 1 study was 40 individuals (Ayres & Johns 1987).

Density and Range:

Density:

Density of troops of the white uakari subspecies (C. c. calvus): 0.4 - 0.6/sq km (1 - 1.6/sq mi). (Ayres & Johns 1987)

Range:

A uakari troop may have a range of up to 6 sq km (2.3 sq mi).

References

Ayres & Johns 1987, Bodmer et al. 1997, Burton & Pearson 1987, Curry-Lindahl 1972, InfoNatura, Inst. Ciên. Biol., IUCN 1967, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2003a, IUCN 2004, Macdonald 1984, Nowak & Paradiso 1983, Olson & Dinerstein 1998, Olson & Dinerstein 1999, WCS Flooded Forest

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Last modified: September 9, 2006;