The Proboscis Monkey

The proboscis monkey is a strange looking old world monkey. Males have a big, fleshy nose that looks like a lightbulb. This crazy nose makes its voice louder, which impresses females and scares other males. The bigger the nose, the louder the voice!

Proboscis monkeys live in mangroves and rain forests on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. They spend most of their time in trees, but are also excellent swimmers. They leap from trees into water with large belly flops!

Proboscis monkeys live in groups with one male and several females, who compete with each other over the male. Babies have black fur and bright blue faces when they are born. Proboscis monkeys aren't very big - males can weigh 35 to 49 pounds and females can weigh 15 to 26 pounds. Proboscis moneys are omnivores and mainly eat leaves, fruits and seeds, flowers and insects. Predators of proboscis monkeys include crocodiles, clouded leopards, eagles, monitor lizards and pythons. Proboscis monkeys are considered an endangered species because of habitat loss and hunting. 

Old world monkeys live in Africa and Asia. Most of them are tree dwellers and, unlike new world monkeys, they cannot grip with their tails. Baboons are also members of the old world monkey family.

Cool Fact: A proboscis is a pointed part of an animal's head, which is how this monkey got its name.