Monkey Island

Observe the grace and social behavior of these amusing primates and admire their acrobatic feats. Our spider and saraguato monkeys are also representatives of the regional fauna.

Spider monkeys have disproportionately long limbs, which give them their name. They require large areas of forest to live, so they are considered as threatened by the destruction of their habitat, mainly for agricultural purposes.

The diet of spider monkeys consists of about 90% fruits and nuts. They communicate using postures, and when they see a human approaching, they bark loudly as a small dog.

The howling monkeys or saraguato is a strange species that owes its name to the strong growl of the male and the scream of the female. With a howl that reaches a distance of more than 5.5 miles, it lives in the lowlands of tropical jungles.

Not long ago, the scream of the saraguato monkeys was common in the jungles of the southeast of Mexico. You could find them swinging in the Sapodilla trees, from which they take their main element of their diets; however, nowadays their habitat has been severely reduced mainly because of deforestation and urbanization.

In February 2003, 20 saraguato monkeys arrived to Xcaret. 11 of them were in danger because of the destruction of their habitat by the cattle industry. Other 9 saraguato monkey babies were donated by the PROFEPA (Federal Office for the Protection of the Environment). Today we have 22 saraguato monkeys due to 2 births that occurred inside the park.