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Mandrills are here!
The exhibit is still undergoing some construction, but Creation Kingdom Zoo's Mandrills have arrived...Read More Here
Added: 2010-08-12
Boo at the Zoo!
October 29 and October 30 from 7pm until 10pm each night. Kids trick or treat in the zoo for free, a...Read More Here
Added: 2010-08-12
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Black Spider Monkey, Black Handed Spider Monkey, White Whiskered Spider Mon 
Habitat:   Lowland rainforest from Mexico to South America
Size:   90-120 inches with arms outstretched
Weight:   All between 10-20 lbs
Food:   90% fruit/seeds; some insects/bird eggs

Description:   
Each of these species of Spider monkeys are arboreal monkeys spending the majority of their lives in the treetops and almost never coming to the ground. Sometimes called the supreme acrobat of the forest, these monkeys can swing through the trees with one armstride covering up to 40 feet! Considered a New Word monkey, spider monkeys have less complex brain structures than Old World monkeys. Their bodies are slim with long limbs and narrow fingers. Spider monkeys do not have a visible thumb on their hands, a feature that is not necessary for swinging through the upper canopy. Since the thumb is absent, spider monkeys do not groom eachother as other primates do. This arboreal monkey has a prehensile tail that is muscular and tactile and used as an extra hand. Both the underside and tip of the tail are used for climbing and grasping and so the spider monkey uses it like a fifth hand. When swinging by the tail, the hands are free to gather food. Black Spider Monkeys are entirely black; Black-Handed Spider Monkeys are black with cream or white bellies; White Whiskered Spider Monkeys are entirely black with a patch of white extending from the corner of their mouth to the cheek.
Spider monkeys live in social groups of up to 100 individuals. Every 2–4 years, a mother will give birth to one entirely black baby. No one else besides the mother looks after the baby. The baby is continuously carried by the mother, clinging to her and at about 5 months of age it will begin riding on her back, wrapping its tail around the mother's tail for additional security. It will be dependent on its mother's milk for 2 years. This species of spider monkey is listed as vulnerable, and three other spider monkey species are listed as critically endangered.
Contact Creation Kingdom Zoo
1642 Snowflake Rd.
Gate City, VA 24251
276-690-5450
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Creation Kingdom Zoo | Virginia, USA

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