English             -            Black Howler

Portuguese     -            Bugio-preto 

Latin                 -            Alouatta caraya         

I was surprised that the Black Howler was one of the first things I saw and photographed when we stayed at Passo do Lontra Parque Hotel in the Pantanal. As soon as we checked in at the hotel, I was away, looking around the grounds to see what I could photograph as there is a lot of wildlife (mainly birds) within the grounds. At this hotel, there is a long boardwalk (around 1km in length) which loops around the wetlands. As I was walking around I noticed something black in a tree in the distance. Thought it was a bird at first, as I got closer, starting thinking to myself, it’s a strange looking bird. Then As I got closer I was surprised to realise it was a black Howler. accompanied by a couple of females. As I got closer to them they scampered higher into the tree and jumped to the next tree and disappeared. I encounter them a few more times over the days we stayed there. Normally you would hear them first though. I was lucky it was a bright, sunny day. If it was a dull day they would have blended into the background more but because it was sunny they stand out more, especially the female. (golden brown colour)

* The Black Howler is also called the Black howling monkey and the Black and gold howler monkey.

* It is one of the few primate species with different coat colours in males and females. (Males are black, Females white/ golden brown)

* The Black Howler measures 130 cm from head to tail (Body length 65cm, Tail, 65cm) and weighs around 15kgs.

* They have prehensile tails that they can use to grab onto branches. 

* Named for their vocalisations, The Black Howler can be heard 5km away.

The Black Howler can live up to 20 years in the wild.

* It is found in southern Brazil, Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, and northern Argentina. 

* The habitat of the Black Howler is primary, arid deciduous, and broadleaf forests.

* It is a folivorous. They eat mostly leaves but do compliment their diet with fruits, buds and flowers.

* The gestation length for the female Black Howler is 187 days. Infants are about 125 g at birth. Females give birth to one offspring per birth and cares for the infants for about one year before mating again.

.* The Black Howler practices allomothering

* The Black Howler is listed as a species ”of Least Concern“ It has a large range and is present in several national parks. Numbers of the the Black Howler are thought to be declining though because of habitat loss due to agricultural development and some subsistence hunting within its range.