Ateles chamek
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Peruvian spider monkey (Ateles chamek), also known as the black-faced black spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey that lives in Peru, as well as in Brazil and in Bolivia. At 60 centimetres (2 feet) long, they are relatively large among species of monkey, and their strong, prehensile tails can be up to 1 m (3 ft) long. Unlike many species of monkey, they have only a vestigial thumb, an adaptation which enables them to travel using brachiation. Peruvian spider monkeys live in groups of 20–30 individuals, but these groups are rarely all together simultaneously. The size and dynamics of the resulting subgroups vary with food availability and sociobehavioral activity. They prefer to eat fleshy fruit, but will change their diet in response to scarcity of ripe fruit. Individuals of this species also eat small animals, insects and leaves based on availability. Females separate from the band to give birth, typically in the fall. These females inhabit a group of core areas where resources are abundant in certain seasons. Typically, males exhibit ranging over longer distances than females, with movement of individuals enhancing the fluidity of subgroup size. Peruvian spider monkey are independent at about 10 months, with a lifespan of about 20 years. Wikipedia →
Recording0:48
Peru · 2024
© Sylvia Billingsley · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:20
Peru · 2026
© rvanloon · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Black Spider Monkey sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 28 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black-faced Black Spider Monkey in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-faced Black Spider Monkey sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Black-faced Black Spider Monkey sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Manu National Park (Peru, about 30%).
Same family: Atelidae
The closest relatives of the Black-faced Black Spider Monkey that you can see in Tambopata National Reserve (family Atelidae, Spider, Howler, and Woolly Monkeys) are Bolivian Red Howler Monkey (about 20%) and Colombian Red Howler Monkey (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-faced Black Spider Monkey is recorded against all the mammals logged in Tambopata National Reserve (35 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.
