This has been a hard decision, but after much time and consideration, the Proboscis monkey is my favourite animal in Sukau. Not only does this simian look good, it's an amazing creature to watch. And an ongoing joke amongst the guides is that I will marry one of the males, keeping me in the Bornean jungles forever! Don't get me wrong, I love all the animals, but they don’t compare to the Proboscis. The elephants tend to just eat grass, nice but boring after awhile. The orangutans are shy, while the snakes and crocodiles are best at a distance.
Here are some reasons why I love this unique animal. The first thing about this handsome monkey that catches the eye is the nose! How did the nose get so big? Better sense of smell? Well only the males have the big nose and it's purely for show to attract the ladies. The females seek males with large noses, yeah, size matters. Some noses reach 10 cm or about four inches. The female’s noses are short, pointy and witch like. Evolution is strange!
Proboscis is a fancy word for a big nose. The locals nicknamed the monkey the "Dutch Monkey"; it resembled the early Dutch explorers with big bellies and long red noses. Also, the males have a reddish-brown torso, grey limbs and a long white tail, or if you look closely a leather jacket and underwear.
This brings me to the second thing you probably ask, why such big bellies? Believe it or not these monkeys, unlike me, have an excuse for having that belly. Proboscis monkeys have a colobine, or two chamber stomach, which makes them always look pregnant! Similar to cows with a four chambered stomach, the digestive system allows the monkeys to feed on unripe fruits, nuts and leaves. Food retention lasts from 14 to 52 hours, but eating the smallest bit of glucose upsets their tummies. The monkeys spend 77% of their day resting, 20 % feeding and the last 3% is spent being awesome; I could adopt and adapt to this lifestyle.
This rare primate, only on the island of Borneo, has adapted to three habitats: mangrove, swamp and riverine forest. It's a good swimmer and often swims across rivers and or jumps down from trees.
The only monkey with semi webbed back feet, it is fast and agile in the water. It can swim 20 meters submerged (the males sometimes use that big schnoz as a snorkel) and walking on mangrove floors without sinking.
A vocal monkey with two types of honks, seven types of shrieks and two types of growls.
From time to time the proboscis monkey will continue to walk upright when it leaves the water. Other than man, gibbons and giant pangolins, this is the only mammal to walk upright. Can you say evolution?
Watch this video to see one more reason why I love watching the beautiful monkeys!
http://video.nationalgeographic.com.au/video/animals/mammals-animals/monkeys-and-lemurs/weirdest-proboscis-monkey/
After reading all this you still probably think this monkey is still strange, ugly and wondering how I could like it so much? Don’t judge until you see these fascinating monkeys up close, I think they are pretty special.
