The loon's lonely cry on a Northern Lake, the wolf's wail to a full moon, the hoot of an owl in the dark of the night. In the rainforest of Belize, it is the roar of the black howler monkey, often mistaken by visitors for the roar of a jaguar. Weighing 15 to 20 lbs, the baboons defend their territories from intruding troops by using their remarkable voices to let other troops know their location.
Howlers often begin and end their days by roaring.
Their roars can be heard as far away as a mile. There are only six species of howler monkeys in the world, all of which live throughout Central and South America. The Black Howler monkey range is limited to southern Mexico, northern Guatemala and Belize. Its population are rapidly declining and becoming isolated due to increasing deforestation throughout Central America. Belize supports one of the last strongholds of the baboon in the region.