This was one of my all-time favourite animal sightings – and the young baby is right up there as one of the cutest things I have ever seen. He couldn’t have been more than a few months old, and was just beginning to tentatively explore the canopy on his own.

Spider Monkeys use their strong, prehensile tail as a kind of fifth limb, making them one of the fastest movers through the treetops. However, this little baby seemed to be struggling enough with mastering four limbs, let alone five, and was trying his darndest to successfully coordinate them all at once.

I watched these two for about an hour, with the baby bumbling about clumsily, and the mother patiently helped him to get his footing. She would even stretch out her tail to create a makeshift branch for the baby to practice his climbing on.

Seeing this pair was even more special given that Central American Spider Monkeys are classified as endangered by the ICUN, and sadly, their populations are decreasing due to habitat loss and the exotic pet trade. They require large areas of primary rainforest in order to thrive, and consequently, Costa Rica’s protected areas represent one of their last remaining strongholds.

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Central American Spider Monkey Mother and Baby (Ateles geoffroyi), Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica 🇨🇷