HEAR IT!

PbyA Ellen Lambeth;R photos byA Tim Laman andD Pete OxfordISE Come visit this special place Red Howler that’s perfect for monkeys. Monkey No alarm clock needed A section of river near the in this forest. At equator flows gently through a daybreak, the roars of misty tropical . This this big monkey and view from above doesn’t reveal its neighbors blast out the explosion of life going on in a few miles in every the forest below. The forest is in direction from high in Yasuní (yah-soo-NEE) National the treetops. Park in the South American country of (see map). Yasuní is home to many hundreds of thousands of —from tiny insects,

treetop frogs, and scurrying ATLANTIC OCEAN lizards to flitting birds, prowling say: TAM-uh-rin SOUTH , and giant trees. This AMERICA NORTH is just one park, with more AMERICA protected land around it. But Golden-Mantled there are few—if any—other Tamarin PACIFIC This small monkey prefers the places on Earth with as many OCEAN lower forest layer, where it dines different kinds of living things in mostly on fruits and insects. You it. Here’s one amazing example can tell it from other kinds of of that: So far, scientists have Ecuador YASUNÍ tamarins by the gold-colored fur discovered a dozen different NATIONAL PARK around its shoulders. Its cousin, kinds of monkeys in Yasuní. And the red-mantled saddleback you can meet them right here on border of tamarin, has also been spotted these next few pages. protected area in Yasuní.

6 PHOTOS BY TIM LAMAN (6-7) 7 say: POH-eh-pigs

Poeppig’s Woolly Monkey As their name suggests, woolly monkeys have thick, soft, fuzzy fur. These monkeys spend most of their time way up high, munching on fruits. They help “plant” new trees when they say: SAH-kee poop out the seeds. Equatorial Saki Have you ever seen such a fluffy monkey before? And White-Bellied check out that thick, fluffy tail! All that hair makes a saki look This long-armed, long- bigger than it really is. This legged creature is the monkey also has a close cousin, “Amazing Spider-Man” the Napo saki, that’s named for of the Yasuní monkey the river on the northern border world. The furry “super of the Yasuní region. hero” moves through the trees with speed and ease. Its long gripping tail comes in Ecuadorian Squirrel handy, too. Monkey Like squirrels that live in trees, squirrel monkeys seem always to be busy and often head down to the forest floor. There, they search for insects and other creepy-crawlies to eat. They also enjoy berries, flowers, and nectar.

Rangers: All is not perfect in paradise. Most of these monkeys are already threatened or endangered by the shrinking of their forests caused by logging, ranching, and development. And some people are tapping into oil supplies that lie in the ground underneath the forest. But other people are working hard against that. They know it could lead to pollution and more habitat loss for the monkeys and many other living things—including people— TIM LAMAN (8T, 9T, 8-9 BACKGROUND); PETE OXFORD/MINDEN PICTURES (8B, 9B) that call Yasuní home. —R.R.

8 9 say: KAP-oo-chin

White-Fronted Capuchin Sticking its tongue out at you is a small, intelligent monkey. Capuchins are most clever at using tools and solving prob- lems. In their busy, all-day search for food, they climb high and low in the trees and everywhere in between. Noisy Night Monkey Night monkeys are also Pygmy Marmoset sometimes called owl Meet the world’s tiniest mon- monkeys. Not only are they key—small enough to hold in active at night, but they also your hands. This one clings make owl-like hoots. In the squirrel-like to a tree trunk. daytime, they often hide out It’s been lapping up gummy in tree holes, as these two sap that oozes out of those are doing. little holes it chewed into the bark.

say: PIG-mee MAR-muh-set Red-Crowned Titi This shy monkey likes to hang out low in trees near water. But it doesn’t move around much and prefers hiding among leaves and vines, so it’s easy to miss. =

say: TEE-tee

PETE OXFORD (10L > , 11BR); TIM LAMAN (10BR, 11T, 10-11 BACKGROUND)

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