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Earlier today, we shared the story of two of our newest members of our black-handed spider monkey troop: Three-month-old Fernando and five-month-old Honey, who were confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Our Zoo has a history of introducing other young wildlife trafficking victims to our troop. With the guidance of our animal care team and partners at Florida Tech, we are confident that Fernando and Honey will become full members of our troop just like our other spider monkey residents who started off their lives as wildlife trafficking victims: Mateo, J and Finn and Marceline. While they are so cherished by our Zoo, we wish they could have lived their lives out with their own troop in their native range.
Still, we celebrate their incredible journeys from scared, unsure infants into confident spider monkeys who are completely integrated into troop life.
Mateo, pictured here as a baby, was cautious and unsure at first, but he has grown into a confident spider monkey.
Mateo
Mateo came to us in 2020 after being found in the center console of a truck at the United States-Mexico border in Hidalgo, Texas. At first, he was shy and unsure of how to be a proper spider monkey. But now? Five-year-old Mateo is running the show!
“He is bold and brave and does not hesitate to create or stop issues within the troop,” said Curator of Animals Sidnee Helton.
The only time we see him unsure of himself is if he is separated from our alpha male, Shooter, for some amount of time. He still heavily relies on Shooter to back him up and make him feel confident.
Shooter was key to Mateo learning confidence and social skills, Sidnee said. Mateo observed and tested to see what he can get away with amongst the other troop members.
“Our habitat has helped with gaining these skills, too, because he is able to form smaller sub troops away from Shooter to really put his skills to practice but can always come back to the source of comfort if he needs it,” Sidnee said.
Mateo has even become a father in recent years to 1-year-old Sully and 9-month-old Baby Joe. He’s an attentive father, Sidnee said.
“Although we would consider him one of the more rambunctious monkeys, he is gentle with his offspring and protective of their mothers,” Sidnee said. “It was really cool to see female black-handed spider monkey, Olive, climb ranks through our troop and Mateo back her up through it all.”
J
J arrived at our Zoo after being confiscated at the United States-Mexico border when someone was caught attempting to smuggle him into the country. The now 4-year-old spider monkey thinks he’s in charge after Mateo – but he lacks the motivation to continue a scuffle if Mateo isn’t there to back him up!
The two spider monkeys are inseparable, said Sidnee.
“They spend time foraging together, sleeping together and doing all their monkey antics together,” she said. “We have been noticing more and more all the ‘guys’ hanging out doing bro stuff together.”
Otherwise, J is a training superstar, who helped kick off a new training behavior for the troop: voluntary radiographs of their arms. By giving him and the other spider monkeys this knowledge, we help make them a part of their own healthcare.
Finn first explores his new home.
Finn and Marceline
When Finn and Marceline the spider monkeys were first introduced to our troop in 2024, they were just a few months old. The duo came to us after being found to have been illegally brought into Florida.
Finn especially was a little apprehensive of some of our high-ranking monkeys – but now, he’s officially part of the crew!
“He gets along well with Mateo, J and, of course, Shooter,” Sidnee said. “He loves spending time with them and learning how to be a male monkey from them.”
Apart from the boys, however, Finn tends to be a bit of a pot stirrer, shared Grace Scott, area supervisor of the Americas.
“He enjoys playing with the young monkeys, and Olive as well, but is quick to push too many buttons and cause a squabble,” Grace said.
Marceline has also started to come out of her shell, and she plays well with other members of our troop.
“She is really silly and likes to play heavily with enrichment,” Sidnee said. “She is starting to lose the infant look to her. She plays well with other members of the troop.”
Our monkeys outnumber their animal care team – so learning to station, or go to a certain spot for training, is very helpful. Marceline and Finn have now mastered this behavior, along with showing their hands to their keepers. They are just starting to offer their tail to keepers during training sessions for their keepers to look over them to make sure they’re in good health.
“The two can be observed spending time together, but for the most part they have stronger relationships with different adolescents in the troop,” Grace said. “Marceline is closest to Sarah, Kabamba and Blue Steel.”
Meeting the Newbies
The troop has started “howdying,” with Fernando and Honey. Howdying means they can see, smell and hear each other – but there’s a barrier between them. Members of the troop regularly visit the newbies, even greeting each other through the mesh and initiating play behavior.
While Mateo and J show a lot of interest in the new additions, Sidnee isn’t sure if it’s because they’re novel or because they know they are orphans.
“Some members of the troop turn their backs to Fernando while he’s at the mesh as a sign of comfort and an invitation for grooming,” Sidnee said. “So far J, Mateo, Olive, Blue, Daisy and Tika have shown the most interest.”
We look forward to the day we can introduce Fernando and Honey to our spider monkey habitats – but for now, they still have some growing to do! We’ll keep you in the loop with the journey of these two little ones.
We would like to thank the following generous donors for supporting our mission-based programs:
Flammio Financial Group · Stifel- Garvin Wealth Management Group · Artemis IT · Pepsi Bottling Company · Amazon · PCL Construction | Nassal | MEC | Heard
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