You may have seen white-faced capuchin monkeys before, whether at a zoo or in a popular movie. These medium-sized monkeys are found in Central America and northern South America. They have a mostly black-haired body and white hair on their face and shoulders. The cap of black fur on their head resembles the hoodsthat Capuchin monks in Italy wore, and that’s where the name came from.
Another fascinating feature of these monkeys is their long tail, which acts like a third hand. Capuchin monkeys use their tail to hang on to tree branches to support their body weight while looking for food. While they eat fruit and nuts, they also enjoy insects, frogs, and lizards. Since they spread various fruit seeds through their fecesand eat insects that are harmful to trees, they contribute a lot to the preservation of forests.
Capuchin monkeys are very social and live in groups of 20 members or so. A group of capuchins is known as a troopor a barrel. Troops are mainly made up of females, who remain in the same troop their whole lives, while males change troops about every four years. Communication and social activities play a significant role among monkeys in a troop because they help form social bonds. A curious example is “hand sniffing,” where the monkeys stick their fingers in front of each other’s nose.
Outside the forests, capuchin monkeys are not only used by humans for their acting abilities. These intelligent animals have small fingers and are gifted with fine motor skills. They can be trained to do many tasks that humans with disabilities cannot do, like turning the pages of a book or picking up dropped objects. Therefore, the white-faced capuchin can be important assistants and companions for some disabled people.
