Monkey Habitat
A Quick Guide to the Monkey Habitat
Monkey habitat can be found in Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. There is no suitable monkey habitat in North America, Antarctica, Australia or most of Europe. Most monkeys live in in tropical rainforests while a few make mountains, high plains and grasslands their homes. Some types of monkeys live in trees while others live on the ground.
Monkeys are important to the ecology of the rainforest as they represent the majority of fruit-eaters in this habitat and play a big part in the seed distribution which keeps the rainforest alive. Some monkey habitat is outside of the tropics. For instance, in Japan there is a Japanese Macaque which lives where there is snow much of the year. Most monkeys stay away from wetlands but a few types are good swimmers.
A better idea of monkey habitat distribution can be had by looking at the habitat of a number of different species. New World Monkeys live in Central and South America, while Old World Monkeys can be found in Asia and Africa. Most of these monkeys that live in the Americas spend their entire lives in trees. The fact that they have a prehensile tail is important to this species--an extra limb for grasping comes in handy in the treetops.
Among this group are the spider, howler, and owl monkeys. Saki monkeys live in northern forests in South America up to 700 feet above sea level. They have fur that is very coarse which helps them stay dry in the frequent rains. Woolly monkeys live in the Amazon basin and in mountain ranges of Peru.
The Amazon River Basin contains the oldest and largest rainforest in the world. It is thought by scientists to be as old as 100,000 years. The Amazon rainforest is a perfect example of monkey habitat. Located near the equator, it is very wet and very hot. Monkeys live high up in the trees of the rainforest. They are among thousands of different types of animals that live in this environment.
The canopy of the rainforest is home to more than five hundred mammals, 175 different types of lizards, 300 other kinds of reptiles and one-third of all the birds in the world live there. There are around thirty million different insects in the rainforest. All of these plants and animals have adapted to this environment.
The Old World Monkeys that live in Asia and Africa have more varied habitats although a significant number also live in tropical rainforests. While monkeys in the Amazon rainforest are mostly arboreal, living in trees, Asian and African monkeys are both arboreal and terrestrial, living on the ground. On all of these continents, humans are the biggest threat to monkey habitat. Over-logging, new settlements, and the hunting of monkeys for bush meat and traditional medicine practices have all taken a big toll. Unless more is done to protect monkey habitat, each year is going to see more and more monkeys on the endangered and extinct species list.