Mono Cai

Mono Cai

Sapajus nigritus

Silhouette: Kai R. Caspar · PhyloPic

LCNTNear ThreatenedVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Itatiaia National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

124 Verified sightings at Itatiaia National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,593 In all 5 parks
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Mono Cai

The black capuchin (Sapajus nigritus), also known as the black-horned capuchin, is a capuchin monkey from the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil and far north-eastern Argentina. Historically, it was included as a subspecies of the tufted capuchin.

The black capuchin was originally named Cebus nigritus or Cebus apella nigritus. While this has changed, many sources still name the black capuchin as part of the genus Cebus. The black capuchin is a social animal that prefers to live in groups, usually consisting of 6 to 20 members. These groups are hierarchical and, while they tend to be made up of more females than males, the alpha female of the group is submissive to the alpha male.

Group size is a function of food availability; size and cohesiveness are highest when food is readily available. When food is scarce, black capuchins split up into smaller groups to cover more ground per capita. This is observed both seasonally in the short term and over the course of years in the long term. The larger the group, the more food they need, which in turn leads to more travel.

Females are, for the most part, philopatric. Although rare... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:34

Brazil · 2025

© Augusto Matheus dos Santos · XC988646 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Recording0:05

Brazil · 2022

© vinicius_s_domingues · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0

Recording0:16

Brazil · 2014

Paula Romano · iNaturalist · CC0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~70%
2 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~50%
3 Itatiaia National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
4 Tijuca National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~40%
5 Serra dos Órgãos National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 ZooParc de Beauval 🇫🇷 France In captivity
2 Zoologic park de Lille 🇫🇷 France In captivity
3 Zoobotanic Park of Brusque 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
4 Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles 🇨🇴 Colombia In captivity
5 Curitiba Zoo 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
6 São Paulo Zoo 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
7 Parque Municipal Summit 🇵🇦 Panama In captivity
8 Colchester Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
9 Edinburgh Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
10 Melbourne Zoo 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
11 Monkey World 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
12 Parque Ecológico de São Carlos 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
13 Elmvale Jungle Zoo 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
14 Bosque dos Jequitibás 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
15 Manatí Park - Cerrado 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic In captivity
16 Bioparque Wakatá 🇨🇴 Colombia In captivity
17 Parque Zoobotânico de Joinville 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
18 Parque Zoológico Bosque Guarani 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
19 World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park 🇿🇦 South Africa In captivity
20 Zoo El Pantanal 🇪🇨 Ecuador In captivity
21 Zoológico 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
22 Limassol Zoo 🇨🇾 Cyprus In captivity
23 Zoológico do Município de São Bernardo do Campo 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
24 Monkey Sanctuary 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
25 Wiwa Quito 🇪🇨 Ecuador In captivity

Closest Relatives at Itatiaia National Park

No species of the same family or order lives in Itatiaia National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Mono Cai in Itatiaia National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Mono Cai sighting in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, based on 124 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Mono Cai in Itatiaia National Park?

August

In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Mono Cai in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, the lowest month. That is one of Itatiaia National Park's driest months, with about 75 mm of rain against 330 mm in December.

What time of day is best to see a Mono Cai?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mono Cai sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Itatiaia National Park the best place to see a Mono Cai?

3rd of 5

Of the 5 parks where we can rate Mono Cai sightings, Itatiaia National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Iguazú National Park (Argentina, about 70%) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil, about 50%). All parks ranked.

Where does the Mono Cai sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Mono Cai is recorded against all the mammals logged in Itatiaia National Park (124 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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