Bearded Capuchin Monkeys/ July 29, morning

July 29, 2023

Feeding a Bearded Capuchin monkey

The famous nut-cracking Bearded Capuchin Monkeys of Wolf Valley Camp are in fact a 25-minute drive away, in a rocky dry forest nook. We leave Wolf Valley Camp after breakfast to drive to the spot and then walk 20 meters or so to find the monkeys. The monkeys are perfectly prepared to display their nut-cracking skills only a few metres from our little stools. It is amazing to watch these most intelligent of all monkeys choose their special hammer rocks like tools in their tool kit and to do full-body lifts of the heavy rocks and to bring them with all their strength to crack the extremely hard, golf-ball-sized palm nuts.

It is especially fascinating to watch young monkeys observing older group members cracking nuts with these hammer rocks. The young monkeys take many months of practice and observation over 3-4 years and then more practice to get strong enough and skilled enough to crack nuts successfully themselves.

I felt as though David Attenborough was sitting beside me

Even before breakfast a colony of white-tufted-ear marmosets were enjoying a meal in a tree outside the kitchen.