Capuchin Monkey Captured on Camera with a Baby Howler Monkey

A baby Howler Monkey clings to the back of an older male monkey, whose small fingers grip the fur. However, they are not related and belong to different species.

Researchers have uncovered unexpected evidence of what they refer to as a monkey temptation while analyzing video recordings from a small island in Panama. Between 2022 and 2023, at least 11 baby Howler Monkeys were observed being carried by Capuchin Monkeys.

“This discovery was quite shocking,” remarked Zoe Goldsborough, a behavioral ecologist at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany. “Nothing like this has been documented in the animal kingdom.”

The motivation behind the monkeys’ actions is currently being studied. Capuchins are cat-sized monkeys indigenous to South and Central America. They are intelligent, long-lived, and observed to learn new behaviors from one another. One group in Panama has even learned to use stones as tools to crack nuts and open seafood.

Goldsborough and her colleagues from both the Max Planck Institute and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have set up over 80 cameras to investigate Capuchin tool usage, yet were surprised to witness the first baby Howler appearing in early 2022.

The footage revealed Capuchin Monkeys walking while using a stone tool, with a Howler baby secured on the back of one. However, the cameras failed to capture the abduction event. Scientists believe it likely occurred in the trees, where Howlers typically reside.

“Our perspective on this story is limited,” stated Margaret Crofoot, co-author from Max Planck and Smithsonian. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology on Monday. In most instances, including all recorded cases, the baby Howler Monkey did not survive, researchers said. Infant Howler monkeys are typically carried by their mothers while nursing, and all the babies featured in the videos were mere weeks to months old—far too young to be weaned.

“I hope that perhaps some have escaped and returned to their mothers, but we truly do not know,” Crofoot added.

The footage documented numerous occasions of young male Capuchins carrying a baby Howler, which likely succumbed to starvation. Many species, including gorillas and Orcas, have also been observed carrying their deceased offspring, but the reasons remain unclear to scientists.

What prompted the Capuchin to do this? There were no indications of an intentional attack on the baby, nor were there signs of predation.

“We spent countless hours trying to understand the motivation behind this behavior,” Goldsborough explained.

The first Capuchin to carry the baby may have acted out of confused “compassionate motivation” or parental instinct, showing gentleness towards the infant. Other males then replicated this behavior.

Researchers believe that the Capuchins did not purposefully harm the baby. So far, only a single group of Capuchins is known to exhibit this behavior.

This study highlights “significant behavioral variations among social groups of the same species.”