Pro: White Throated Capuchin
BECOMING A PRIMATE PRO... SORT OF
10 OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN PRIMATE SPECIES
#2 COLOMBIAN WHITE-THROATED CAPUCHIN
Cebus capucinus
Common names are not officially defined. They are based on everyday conversational language and may differ by country, region, profession, community, or other factors. As a result, it is not unusual for a species to have more than one common name.
Scientific names are in Latin and they are written in italics. They are standardized and for everyone, no matter what language you may speak. They are bound by a formal naming system, called binominal nomenclature, that has strict rules. Scientific names prevent misidentification. Those names only change if a species, or its genus, is officially redesignated by experts.
Colombian white-throated capuchin monkeys are native to the Central American rainforests of Panama, the South American rainforests of western Colombia and western Ecuador.
- Capuchin monkeys are among the most intelligent of the New World monkeys
- They fashion tools for foraging and as weapons against predators
- Capuchin monkeys demonstrate knowledge of herbal medicine, using plant oils and toxic caterpillars as insect repellent, relief for insect bite itches, and as fungicides
Although resilient monkeys, Colombian white-throated capuchins are threatened by habitat degradation, habitat loss due to deforestation for agriculture, mining, cattle ranching, urbanization, and other types of industry. They are also hunted as food and captured for the pet or research trades.
- As capuchin monkeys become mature, they become destructive to property, feisty, and unmanageable.
- To become pets, capuchins are stolen from their mothers as babies. As a result, they do not develop healthy emotional lives.
- Monkeys are never domesticated. They are always wild animals.
- In many places, there are strict regulations against keeping monkeys as pets.
- Caged monkeys are very unhappy and frustrated. They are likely to resist confinement. They are fast-moving and can cause damaging bites and scratches.
- Capuchins monkeys should live with other capuchin monkeys in their natural habitats in Central and South America. We must protect them and their habitats.
Visit the COLOMBIAN WHITE-THROATED CAPUCHIN Primate Species Profile