For a century, colobus fur was all the rage in rugs and coats. Hunters shot 170,000 colobus monkeys in 1892 alone. Today, hunting has decreased, but people pose a new threat as they take over colobus habitat. Click here to see colobus monkeys on video. Saimiri sciureus Northern South America Quick, agile, and always active, squirrel monkeys are popular with zoo visitors, but not with Amazon orchard owners, who consider the species a pest.
Squirrel monkeys eat insects and small vertebrates in addition to fruit.
Squirrel monkeys are still common in their native habitat. They're found in many places, so when chunks of forest fall, there's still habitat left. They're small, so they don't need much room. They reproduce quickly enough to make up for hunting. And they live in big groups to protect themselves from predators, with many eyes to watch for monkey-munching snakes and hawks.