Proboscis Monkey

A swimming champion of the forest with a huge nose and a round belly

The fascinating secrets of the proboscis monkey!

A special neighbor of Borneo

• It lives only in the mangrove forests and riverbanks of Borneo, home to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
• Its most notable trait is how strikingly different males and females look.
• Males boast a much larger, heavier build than females.

The bigger the nose, the more popular!

• A male's long, drooping nose amplifies sound like a speaker, giving him a booming voice.
• The bigger and more impressive a male's nose, the more popular he is with females.
• It's an important sign that he's a strong, healthy leader capable of leading the group.

Gentle charisma over fighting

• Recent research found that males with bigger noses actually tend to have smaller canine teeth.
• Rather than threatening and fighting with sharp teeth, they keep peace with a loud, gentle voice.
• This is a trait of kind, generous leaders who can lead a group without resorting to force.

What's inside that round belly?

• Inside its seemingly chubby belly is a complex, multi-chambered stomach, much like a cow's.
• This special stomach lets it eat tough leaves as a staple food that other animals can't digest.
• Special bacteria living in its stomach safely break down even toxic plants.

Sweet fruit is absolutely off-limits!

• Unlike the typical monkeys we know, it never eats sweet, ripe fruit.
• Eating sweet fruit can cause excessive gas in its complex stomach, which can be life-threatening.
• Instead, it eats unripe, tart fruit and seeds, playing a great role in spreading seeds through the forest.

Feet with hidden webbing

• Surprisingly, it has thin webbing hidden between its fingers and toes.
• Thanks to this webbing, it's a rare master swimmer among primates.
• It can also easily walk through the muddy mangrove swamps without sinking.

A master of diving and dog-paddling

• When crossing a river, it jumps from very tall trees to minimize the time it spends in the water.
• To avoid fearsome crocodiles lurking underwater, it dog-paddles at incredible speed.
• Even normally, it sleeps on riverside branches that let it dive straight into the water to escape predators.

Blue-faced babies and friendly neighbors

• Newly born proboscis monkeys have a deep blue face, unlike the adults.
• They have a very friendly, peaceful nature, even sharing feeding trees with other groups.
• Females move freely between groups, forming a wonderful community where they help care for each other's babies.