Behavioural Observations on a Pair of Captive White-Faced Saki Monkeys (Pithecia pithecia)

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Abstract
The white-faced saki monkey of northern Brazil is a medium-sized arboreal primate living in small family groups. There is little known of its behaviour in the field or in captivity. This study was carried out on a pair of captive 2-year-old animals over a 5-month period. Five major categories of behaviour are described: play; grooming; aggression; olfaction and sexual. The four olfactory related behaviours have not previously been reported for this species. A short quantitative study showed sexually dimorphic frequencies for solitary play, chasing play and grooming. There was a daily activity pattern of high levels of social play in the morning and high levels of allogrooming in the afternoon.