The Black Howler Monkey, (Alouatta
pigra) known
as the ‘baboon’ in Belize has
very limited range including Belize, Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala. It
is one of the six howler monkey species found in Central and South America. One
of the most remarkable traits of the howler monkey is its loud, rasping howl,
which can be heard roaring across the forest for well over a mile. Throughout
most of its range, the Howler Monkey is endangered from hunting and habitat
destruction. Fortunately, Belize has a healthy population of these loudest of
primates. Visitors to Black Orchid Resort are
most likely to come to a very close encounter with this specie especially if
they opt for a river cruise down the Belize Old River!
The black howler monkey typically
lives in troops of 4-12 individuals, with one to three adult males and
multiple females and a dominant male heading the
troop. The monkeys are strictly vegetarian eating a wide variety of leaves,
flowers and fruit.
Howler monkeys have short snouts and wide-set, round
nostrils. Their noses are very keen, and the Howler monkey can smell out its
food up to 2 miles away. Their noses are usually roundish snout-type, and the
nostrils have many sensory hairs growing from the interior. They range in size
from 2 to 3 ft. excluding their tails, which can be equally as long, in fact in
some cases the tail has been found to be almost 5 times the body length. This
is a prime characteristic. Like many New World monkeys, they have prehensile
tails. They can grasp items with it, hence why they are often
found using their prehensile tails for picking fruit and nuts from trees. 
They have lifespans of 15 to 20 years. Males are, on average, 1.5 to 2.0 kg heavier than females.
Howler monkeys generally move quadrupedally on the tops of
branches of trees along the Belize River, usually grasping a branch with at
least two hands or one hand and the tail at all times. Their strong prehensile
tails are able to support their entire body weight. Fully grown adult howler
monkeys do not often rely on their tails for full body support, whereas
juveniles do so more frequently.
