Bolivian Squirrel Monkey

Squirrel Monkeys are spread across the tropical regions of Central and South America, in areas such as Bolivia and Venezuela. Specifically, Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys are distributed across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru.

Squirrel Monkeys prefer dense, wet areas that are close to a water source. They are usually found in the canopy layer in the forests across these regions. These monkeys will move up and down the trees to find food and shelter, but not often due to fear of being caught by predators from the sky or ground. 

These monkeys are omnivorous, meaning that they eat both small animals and plant matter. Their diet is mainly comprised of fruits and insects, but are also known to eat other plants such as flowers, buds, nuts and other vertebrae such as lizards. Their diet often depends on the season, to where the dry season shows a shortage of plant matter, to where they rely on animal prey to survive.
They feed during the day in their smaller sub-groups, to where their hands and fingers are perfect for holding and peeling food. Their sharp teeth make it easier to ingest their wide variety of foods. 

Squirrel Monkeys are diurnal and arboreal, meaning that they are active during the day, and spend most of their time in trees.
The monkeys are incredibly social, and are known to move about their habitat in large groups in a noisy manner. There is a good mixture of both male and female individuals in these troops, which are usually made up of 40-50 members. However, these troops may reach 200 members or more! The large amounts of members are often split into smaller sub-groups, especially when feeding, to where they return to the large group at night. During the day they travel around the forests by leaping from branch to branch.

Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys are more vocal and active than the Common Squirrel Monkey. They will often spend half their day foraging for insects and other food, with 10% of their day feeding on plant matter.

Due to their small size, they are susceptible to aerial predators such as large falcons, other arboreal animals such as snakes, and if they venture to the bottom of trees they are faced with the risk with being caught by other ground dwelling animals. As a form of protection, these monkeys have a number of vocal calls that include warning sounds to alert other members of the troop of any dangers. 

Female Squirrel monkeys reach sexual maturity at age 2-2.5 years, and males take until the age of 3.5-4 years. At the beginning of the breeding season, males begin to aggressively fight for the right to mate, while asserting dominance by broadening their shoulders. The winner earns the mating rights with most of the females in the group. The monkeys typically mate in the dry season, and give birth once a year.

Squirrel Monkey mating is dependent on the seasonal influences throughout the year. Females give birth during the rainy season, after a 150-170 gestation period. Offspring numbers are usually very small where only one monkey is born. Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys are not fully weaned until 18 months of age.

Only mothers care for the young, to where the females chase away the males shortly after giving birth. Breeding females are known to care for offspring other than their own, to where an infant may spend around 30% of its time being cared for by another mother. The young Squirrel Monkeys are often very independent to where they will venture on their own. 

These Squirrel Monkeys are subject to being prey from larger birds, tree dwelling animals, and predators on the ground. Birds of Prey are the largest threat to these monkeys in addition to snakes that hunt them in the tree canopy.

The current population trend for the Bolivian Squirrel Monkey is decreasing. IUCN Redlist describes that the species is hunted for subsistence use which is contributing to the decrease in its wild population. Habitat loss has also negatively impacted the Squirrel Monkey species as a whole across the Central and South America regions. Being captured to be made human pets and for medical research also occurs, most notably in the Peru region.

However, the Bolivian Squirrel Monkey species is listed on CITES Appendix II and is found in many protected areas.