A spider monkey that lives high in forest trees, using long limbs and a long tail.
Its limbs and tail are long relative to the body, and its hands and feet are dark.
Geoffroy’s spider monkeys ingest small amounts of alcohol when eating ripe fruit. On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, the remaining pulp of Spondias mombin fruits bitten and dropped by monkeys typically contained about 1–2% alcohol. Forest fruit combines sweetness with substances produced by natural fermentation.
The study, published in 2022, followed wild spider monkeys on the island from June to September 2013. Researchers collected partly eaten fruits dropped during feeding, as well as fruits dropped without being eaten. These leftovers provided samples of foods selected in the canopy. In addition, five of six urine samples caught beneath monkeys contained both of two compounds produced when the body breaks down alcohol. Analyses of the food and substances excreted by the animals together linked wild fruit to alcohol intake. Even minor components of the pulp formed part of the monkeys’ meals.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
On Panama’s Azuero Peninsula, the subspecies Ateles geoffroyi azuerensis faces habitat loss, hunting and capture for the pet trade. Local organization Pro Eco Azuero uses this subspecies as a conservation indicator while restoring forest with landowners. Its work includes planting native trees, establishing community nurseries and environmental education in schools. This peninsula-level effort combines forest restoration with work to stop the killing and capture of monkeys.