Range

South America is the native home of the white-faced saki. Here they live throughout Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Habitat

They make their home in mature forest habitats such as flooded, evergreen, coastal and gallery forest though they can also exist in secondary forests. Population density in secondary forests is typically lower.

Reproduction

Infants are typically born in November or December. Males and females can mate with multiple partners in the wild. Previous reports of them being monogamous were mostly obtained in captivity.

Females give birth after a 146 day gestation period. A single infant has been born on all recorded occasions but twins could be possible.

For the first 5 months of their life the infant clings to the mother’s fur. At 2 months old the fur on a males face will begin to turn white or pale gold while the female retains her infant coloration.

Young sakis remain in the group after weaning and may provide assistance with raising the next infant born.

Males mature soon before their third birthday with females maturing around the same time or slightly later.

Behavior

On the throat is the gular gland which is used for scent marking. Urine is also used for scent marking. Most of this scent marking is performed by males.

White-faced sakis are active during the day. At night they sleep coiled up on a branch.

Most of their time is spent in the trees. To move between trees they are able to jump up to 10m (33ft).

They live in small groups. Most of these have four members but groups of up to ten have been observed.

This group maintains a home territory. This is aggressively defended against other white-faced sakis. If two groups meet they will engage in treat displays including loud vocalizations, branch shaking and chasing.

A mating pair will call to each other to reinforce their bond. These calls include trills, chuckles, whistles and growls.

Predators and Threats

Natural predators of the white-faced saki include birds of prey such as the harpy eagle, cats such as the jaguar and snakes.

If predators approach they let out an alarm call and the whole group will stand still. The group may gang up to attack smaller predators.

When threatened the white-faced saki will perform a threat display during which they growl and shake their body while it is an arched posture. If this is unsuccessful they will shake a branch with their whole body.

Humans reduce their population through habitat destruction and hunting.

Quick facts

They are sometimes called the ‘flying monkey’ due to their ability to jump up to 10m (33ft) in a single bound.